RBI removes Maharashtra minister Patil from Latur cooperative bank board

The RBI has removed Maharashtra NCP minister Babasaheb Patil from the Latur District Central Cooperative Bank board over an alleged breach of the 10-year tenure limit for directors. Bank voter representative Satish Sheshrao Jadhav complained on May 25 that the minister was among 19 directors who had crossed the limit. On August 3, the Bombay High Court's Aurangabad bench ordered a decision within six weeks. Seven of eight named directors resigned. Patil called the order improper and will challenge it.

Written by AI from Hindustan Times — India · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 19 Sept 2026, 5:58 pm IST

Source

Hindustan Times — India · read the original report ↗

#rbi#cooperative bank#latur#ncp#babasaheb patil

Desk check · compared with the source

What the desk checked (5)

RBI removed NCP minister Babasaheb Patil from the Latur District Central Cooperative Bank board over an alleged breach of the 10-year tenure limit. — Attributed to RBI action as reported in the source; no RBI order text or spokesperson quoted.
Sections 10A(2A)(i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 make directors completing 10 continuous years on or after August 1, 2025 ineligible. — Specific statutory provisions and date appear in the source; legal interpretation is disputed by Patil.
Satish Sheshrao Jadhav filed a complaint with the RBI on May 25, naming 19 directors who had crossed the tenure limit. — Named complainant and figures appear in the source; complaint allegations remain unproven.
On August 3, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court directed the competent authority to decide the complaint within six weeks. — Court direction and date stated in source; order not independently cited.
Seven of the eight directors named in the complaint resigned, while Patil did not. — Figure appears in source without attribution to a named official.

Written by AI from Hindustan Times — India · not yet reviewed by an editor · How we use AI · Report an error

Analysts’ view opinion

AI Political Analyst

In Maharashtra, cooperative banks are not merely financial institutions — they are the machinery through which rural political influence is built and held. That is why the RBI's removal of Cooperation Minister Babasaheb Patil from the Latur District Central Cooperative Bank board, though framed purely as a regulatory action, touches the local balance of power. Seven of the eight directors named in the complaint resigned; Patil's decision not to, and to head to court instead, makes this as much a fight over political standing as over legal interpretation.

The optics of a sitting cooperation minister being accused of breaching cooperative bank norms hands the opposition an easy line of attack.
Patil's refusal to quit when seven others named in the complaint stepped down suggests the board seat functions for him as a base of local influence, not just a title.
Because the decision followed the Aurangabad bench's six-week deadline, it is harder to frame as political targeting — the trigger was a complaint and a court direction.
Patil's defence rests on statutory interpretation — that the tenure provision cannot be applied to remove him — so relief in the high court would double as political vindication.
With 19 directors allegedly past the tenure limit, the implications reach well beyond one minister to an entire entrenched generation of cooperative-sector leadership.

What to watch — Watch the first hearing on Patil's high court challenge, how the NCP and its allies position themselves on any impact on his ministerial role, and whether other cooperative bank boards face similar action.

The story establishes only the complaint and the regulatory action — it does not establish any threat to Patil's ministership, how the NCP leadership views the matter, or how the courts will rule.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 5 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

Maharashtra's cooperation minister Babasaheb Patil of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has been removed by the Reserve Bank of India from the board of the Latur District Central Cooperative Bank for allegedly exceeding the 10-year continuous tenure limit for directors of cooperative banks. The limit flows from Sections 10A(2A)(i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, under which a director completing 10 continuous years on or after August 1, 2025 — the date the relevant amendment came into force — becomes ineligible to continue. The action followed a complaint by a bank voter representative and a direction from the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court to decide the complaint on merits within six weeks. Patil has called the removal "improper" and says he will challenge it in the high court.

Key facts

The RBI has removed Maharashtra NCP minister Babasaheb Patil from the board of the Latur District Central Cooperative Bank over an alleged breach of the 10-year tenure limit for directors.
Sections 10A(2A)(i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 make a cooperative bank director ineligible to continue after completing 10 continuous years of tenure.
The relevant amendment came into force on August 1, 2025; directors completing 10 continuous years on or after that date are ineligible.
Satish Sheshrao Jadhav, a member and authorised voter representative of the bank, filed the complaint with the RBI on May 25.
The complaint alleged Patil was one of 19 directors of the bank who had crossed the 10-year tenure limit, and sought their disqualification.
The complainant also sought cancellation of what he called illegal recruitment at the bank and the appointment of an administrator.
On August 3, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court directed the competent authority to decide the complaint on merits within six weeks.
Seven of the eight directors named in the complaint resigned; Patil did not step down and the RBI ordered his removal before the court-mandated deadline expired.

Timeline

May 25Satish Sheshrao Jadhav, a member and authorised voter representative of the Latur bank, complains to the RBI that 19 directors, including the state cooperation minister, had crossed the 10-year tenure limit.
August 1, 2025The amendment to the Banking Regulation Act tenure provision comes into force, making directors who complete 10 continuous years on or after this date ineligible.
August 3The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court directs the competent authority to decide the complaint on its merits within six weeks.
After the court orderSeven of the eight directors named in the complaint resign; Patil refuses to step down.
Before the six-week deadline expiredThe RBI directs Patil's removal from the bank's board; Patil says he will challenge the decision in the high court.

Who has a stake

Babasaheb Patil, Maharashtra NCP minister (state cooperation minister) — Removed from the Latur bank board; disputes the RBI's interpretation of the tenure provision and plans a high court challenge as a bank director.
Reserve Bank of India — Regulator enforcing the 10-year director tenure cap under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949; its interpretation of the provision is now to be tested in court.
Latur District Central Cooperative Bank — Faces board churn, with seven of eight named directors resigning and allegations of illegal recruitment and a demand for an administrator.
Satish Sheshrao Jadhav, complainant and authorised voter representative — Sought disqualification of long-serving directors, cancellation of alleged illegal recruitment and appointment of an administrator.
Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court — Directed a merits-based decision on the complaint within six weeks; is also the forum where Patil intends to contest the removal.
Other directors of the bank — Of the 19 directors alleged to have crossed the 10-year limit, eight were named in the complaint and seven resigned.

Why it matters

District central cooperative banks are power centres in Maharashtra politics, and a sitting cooperation minister being removed by the banking regulator shows central banking law overriding entrenched local control of boards. The case tests how strictly the 10-year tenure cap under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 will be applied and whether courts back the RBI's reading of it. It also signals that complaints from ordinary bank members, backed by judicial deadlines, can force board-level change.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

Cooperative bank director tenure cap of 10 continuous years flows from Sections 10A(2A)(i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
The relevant amendment took effect on August 1, 2025; those completing 10 continuous years on or after that date are ineligible to continue.
RBI is the authority that directed removal of a director from a district central cooperative bank board.
The complaint against the Latur District Central Cooperative Bank directors was filed with the RBI on May 25.
On August 3, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court ordered a decision on the complaint within six weeks.
Babasaheb Patil is a Maharashtra NCP minister holding the cooperation portfolio, per the source.

Mains framing

The removal of a sitting Maharashtra cooperation minister from the Latur District Central Cooperative Bank board illustrates the tension between political control of cooperative institutions and statutory banking regulation. The trigger was a complaint by an authorised voter representative alleging that 19 directors, including the minister, had crossed the 10-year continuous tenure cap under Sections 10A(2A)(i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, with the relevant amendment effective August 1, 2025; the complaint also alleged illegal recruitment and sought an administrator. Judicial intervention mattered: the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court's August 3 direction to decide the complaint on merits within six weeks pushed the regulator to act, and seven of eight named directors resigned rather than contest. The implications are twofold — governance in cooperative banks becomes less dependent on indefinite incumbency, while the contested interpretation of the tenure provision, which Patil says does not permit his removal, remains to be settled in the high court. A way forward consistent with the source lies in timely, merits-based disposal of such complaints by the competent authority, judicial clarity on the tenure clause, and orderly board succession so depositor-facing institutions are not destabilised.

Key terms

Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (Sections 10A(2A)(i) and 56): Provisions under which a cooperative bank director completing 10 continuous years of tenure becomes ineligible to continue in office.
District Central Cooperative Bank (DCCB): A district-level cooperative bank; here the Latur District Central Cooperative Bank, whose board is at the centre of the dispute.
Authorised voter representative: A bank member entitled to vote in its elections; the complainant Satish Sheshrao Jadhav held this status at the Latur bank.
Administrator: An external appointee sought by the complainant to run the bank in place of the elected board.
Competent authority: The authority the Aurangabad bench directed on August 3 to decide the complaint on its merits within six weeks.

Practice questions

Discuss how the 10-year tenure cap under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 affects governance in India's cooperative banking sector, using the Latur District Central Cooperative Bank case.
Examine the role of the RBI and constitutional courts in checking entrenched political control of cooperative institutions.
What are the risks and benefits of appointing an administrator to a cooperative bank in place of an elected board?

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

Next storyMan allegedly kills wife, three children with axe in Damoh →

← All stories