Kochi: Kerala Bank, the ambitious project of the Left Democratic Front government, was formed last year after merging all 13 District Cooperative Banks (DCB) with the Kerala State Cooperative Bank (KSCB). Now a petition has been filed in the High Court, alleging that most branches of the amalgamated entity were operating without the licence of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The petition, filed by natives of Iritty in Kannur, also alleged that the bank did not have permission to use the name Kerala Bank. It pointed out that the RBI had given permission to use the name 'The Kerala State Cooperative Bank Ltd' and hence it cannot be named Kerala Bank.

The petitioners are Brijith Krishna, who has an account at the Iritty evening branch of the bank, and Shaji Puthiyaveetil, who has taken a loan.

As per the Banking Regulation Act, the RBI had given licence to the bank to operate 20 branches and three regional offices.

But the Kerala Bank has 66 branches in Kannur district alone, and that the Iritty branch and evening branch were operating in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, as per the petition.

Moreover, the bank has a total of 749 branches. Though a complaint was filed to the RBI over the violation, no action was taken. The petition also sought to issue a directive to the RBI to ensure that the branches, without licences, are shut down.

In the run-up to the laugh of the bank, a few cases were filed challenging the provisions of the state government ordinance that had aimed at circumventing the opposition by district cooperative banks towards their amalgamation with the then state-level cooperative bank entity, KSCB.