Madras HC Admits pil against NSDL

Chennai, Jan 10 (UNI) Madras High Court today admitted a Public Interest Litigation(PIL), seeking to quash a circular issued by the National Securities Depository Limited, Mumbai, imposing certain restrictions, on the visually handicapped persons to open an account in the bank for the purpose of share market business.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice A P Shah and Mr Justice K Chandru admitted the PIL filed by T Sekar, a visually handicapped person, and ordered notice to Union Government, Presidents, National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), Mumbai and Chennai.

The bench posted further hearing of the PIL to first week of February.

In his PIL, Mr Sekar submitted that he decided to do the business in share market and approached the Managing Director of ICICI Web Trade, Chennai, to open an account in his branch for the purpose of doing the share market business. The Managing Director communicated a circular issued by the NSDL, Mumbai dated August 26, 2005.

The Circular stated that blind person, who wishes to open an account must come in person at the time of opening the account, operate the same and transfer the security from his or her account to any other account. The blind person should be accompanied by two companions. Though blind person was able to sign, he or she must put his or her thumb impression and the two companions also should sign in the form for opening the account.

The blind person should always be accompanied by one of the companion, who were present at the time of opening of the account and in all the records, including the agreement of his or her transactions, he added.

He contended that the restrictions imposed in the circular are highly impossible and unreasonable and against principles of natural justice and untenable in law. It was never possible for a blind person to bring two reliable persons along with him at the time of opening the account and to retain any one of them always with him for future transactions of the account.

As the maintenance of account was confidential and secret, one cannot expect the companion always to be reliable and would maintain the secrecy of confidential account and transactions, he added.

UNI