Three days left. Applications close on 21 September 2026. It is an online form, and there is no fee — the bank says so expressly and warns that no third party is authorised to make offers on its behalf.
The Gayatri Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd. is recruiting a Law Officer at Jagtial, Telangana. The requirement is an LL.B. or LL.M. with a minimum of five years in practice or in a similar position in any bank, and the age ceiling is 65.
The notification itself is a single page and says very little. What it does not say — and what makes this a more interesting post than it looks — is that Gayatri is a multi-state co-operative bank, which puts a very particular recovery toolkit in its law officer’s hands. That is set out below, along with four things the job listings have left out.
At a glance
| Employer | The Gayatri Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd. |
| Post | Law Officer |
| Vacancies | Not stated in the notification |
| Qualification | LL.B. / LL.M. · computer knowledge required |
| Experience | Minimum 5 years in law practice, or in a similar position in any bank |
| Age | Should not exceed 65 years · no “as on” date given |
| Place of posting | Jagtial, Telangana — the bank’s head office |
| Remuneration | Not stated |
| Tenure | Not stated |
| Fee | Nil |
| Selection | Interview and document verification. No written examination |
| Apply | Online, through the link on the bank’s careers page |
| Last date | 21 September 2026 |
| Notification | Law Officer — September 2026 (PDF) |
Four things the listings leave out
1. The place of posting is Jagtial — and it is the head office
Several listings record the location as “not specified”. The notification states Jagtial. That matters more than a line on a form: Jagtial is where the bank’s head office is, at 1-5-171/A, Karimnagar Road. This is not a branch legal post. It is the bank’s in-house legal function, sitting with management, for a bank now running around 85 branches across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
2. The experience bar has been halved
An earlier notification for the same post — still linked from the bank’s careers page at the time of writing — was issued in March 2025, closed on 14 April 2025, and required ten years of experience. The current notification, uploaded in September 2026, requires five.
Two practical consequences. First, if you read the 2025 file and ruled yourself out, read it again. Second, make sure you are applying against the September 2026 notification and not the older one — the careers page has carried both, and the closing dates are eighteen months apart.
3. There is no fee, and the bank has said so in terms
“Gayatri Bank does not charge applicants any recruitment fee or deposit in return for job offers. No third party is authorized on behalf of the Bank to make employment offers, refer or place candidates.”
A warning of that kind on a one-page notice usually means the bank has had reason to issue it. If anyone asks you for money in connection with this post, that is the answer.
4. Three things the notification simply does not say
Number of vacancies. Remuneration. Tenure. None of the three appears anywhere in the notification, and the careers page adds nothing. Whether the engagement is regular, contractual or on a consultancy basis is not disclosed; the age ceiling of 65 suggests the bank is open to a retired banker or a senior advocate, which in practice usually means a fixed-term arrangement. Ask before you accept anything. A post with no stated pay and no stated tenure is a negotiation, not an offer.
Who the employer is
Gayatri began as a unit bank at Jagtial, commencing business on 11 September 2000 under RBI Licence No. UBD/HYD/AP/26P dated 24 May 2000, with opening share capital of ₹25.11 lakh contributed by 1,008 members.
It has grown mainly by acquisition — absorbing Samatha Mahila Co-operative Urban Bank, Hyderabad (2016), the Bhimavaram Co-operative Urban Bank in Andhra Pradesh (2019), and Yadagiri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Co-operative Urban Bank (2024). The Bhimavaram merger is what carried it across a State line, and in August 2019 it was registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002 (registration No. MSCS/CR/1290/2019, dated 23.08.2019).
It reports around 85 branches as at July 2026, up from 67 in March 2025, and business of roughly ₹3,900 crore. It is a non-scheduled urban co-operative bank, and on those deposits falls in Tier 3 under the RBI’s Urban Co-operative Banks (Licensing, Scheduling and Regulatory Classification) Guidelines, 2025.
The branch and business figures above are the bank’s own published statements and trade-press reporting, not audited figures; the bank publishes its performance highlights only as images. The licence number, commencement date and registration number are from the bank’s own site.
One matter of record a candidate should know
On 25 September 2025 the Reserve Bank of India imposed a monetary penalty of ₹10,00,000 on the bank for non-compliance with its directions on the marketing and distribution of mutual fund and insurance products by urban co-operative banks — specifically, selling insurance products without adequate disclosure and transparency. The penalty was imposed under Section 47A(1)(c) read with Sections 46(4)(i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, following a statutory inspection with reference to the bank’s position as on 31 March 2024.
This is public regulatory record and is mentioned here for what it tells a prospective law officer about the work: third-party product distribution, disclosure standards and RBI inspection compliance are live issues at this bank. That is the job.
What a law officer at an urban co-operative bank actually does
This is the part no job listing will give you, and it is the reason to take the post seriously.
Who regulates the employer — the duality of control
An urban co-operative bank answers to two masters. Its banking functions are regulated by the Reserve Bank under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 as applied to co-operative societies by Section 56 of that Act — licensing under Sections 22 and 23, prudential norms, inspection, directions. Its co-operative functions — registration, membership, bye-laws, elections, board, winding up — sit with the Registrar.
For Gayatri, the second of those is the Central Registrar of Co-operative Societies, New Delhi, not the Telangana Registrar, because the bank is registered under the Multi-State Act. Its board elections are conducted by the Co-operative Election Authority under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Rules, 2002.
A point worth being clear about, because it is commonly got wrong: the Telangana Co-operative Societies Act, 1964 and the Telangana Mutually Aided Co-operative Societies Act, 1995 do not govern this bank. Sections 61 and 71 of the 1964 Act — disputes before the Registrar, and the recovery certificate — are the machinery for a State-registered society. They are not this bank’s machinery.
What changed in 2020
The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 39 of 2020, assented 29 September 2020) was brought into force for urban co-operative banks with effect from 26 June 2020, the date of the Ordinance it replaced. It did four things that matter in an in-house legal role:
- Share capital. A co-operative bank may now, with RBI approval, issue equity, preference or special shares and long-dated debentures — and, critically, “no person shall be entitled to demand payment towards surrender of shares”. That overrides State co-operative law permitting withdrawal of share capital, and is what finally gave these banks a stable capital base.
- Governance. Sections 10, 10A, 10B, 35B and 36AB of the Banking Regulation Act were applied to co-operative banks. The RBI may remove a chairperson who is not fit and proper, direct reconstitution of the board so that at least 51% of directors hold specified professional qualifications, and appoint directors.
- Supersession. The RBI’s power under Section 36AAA to supersede a board and appoint an administrator was extended from multi-state co-operative banks to all co-operative banks.
- Reconstruction. Section 45 was amended so that the RBI may frame a scheme of reconstruction or amalgamation without first imposing a moratorium.
It did not abolish dual control. Registration, membership, bye-laws and winding up remain with the Registrar. That is the commonest error in popular write-ups on the 2020 Act.
On supersession there is a very recent and directly relevant decision. In Sandeep S. Ghandat v. Reserve Bank of India, 2026 INSC 955, decided on 4 September 2026, the Supreme Court held that the RBI’s power under Section 36AAA to supersede the board of a multi-state co-operative bank is not constrained by the six-month limit in the third proviso to Article 243ZL(1) of the Constitution, that the expression there was used “in an additive and non-restrictive sense”, and that successive supersessions are permissible up to the five-year outer limit in Section 36AAA(7).
The recovery toolkit — and why multi-state status decides it
Most of an urban co-operative bank’s legal work is recovery. Which routes are open depends on how the bank is registered, and this is where Gayatri’s multi-state status does real work.
| Route | Basis | Open to this bank? |
|---|---|---|
| Adjudication before the Central Registrar, then execution | Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002 | Yes — it is a multi-state society |
| SARFAESI — demand notice under s. 13(2), possession under s. 13(4), sale | Section 2(1)(c)(iva), SARFAESI Act, 2002, read with Pandurang Ganpati Chaugule | Yes, expressly |
| Debt Recovery Tribunal, for debts of ₹10 lakh and above | Section 2(d)(vi), Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act, 1993, inserted with effect from 15.01.2013 | Yes, expressly |
| Civil suit | Ordinary law | Subject to the ouster in Section 18 of the 1993 Act above the threshold |
| Sections 61 and 71, Telangana Co-operative Societies Act, 1964 | State Act | No — the bank is not registered under it |
SARFAESI and co-operative banks — Pandurang Ganpati Chaugule
The governing authority is Pandurang Ganpati Chaugule v. Vishwasrao Patil Murgud Sahakari Bank Ltd., (2020) 9 SCC 215, a Constitution Bench of five judges — Arun Mishra, Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, M.R. Shah and Aniruddha Bose JJ — decided on 5 May 2020. Arun Mishra J, answering the reference, held:
“The co-operative banks under the State legislation and multi-State co-operative banks are ‘banks’ under section 2(1)(c) of Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002. The recovery is an essential part of banking; as such, the recovery procedure prescribed under section 13 of the SARFAESI Act, a legislation relatable to Entry 45 List I of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India, is applicable.”
The Court also held that the insertion of “a multi-State co-operative bank” in Section 2(1)(c)(iva) was made ex abundanti cautela — out of abundant caution — and that neither it nor the notification dated 28 January 2003 extending SARFAESI to State-registered co-operative banks was ultra vires.
A note of precision on Greater Bombay. It is often said that Pandurang overruled Greater Bombay Co-operative Bank Ltd. v. United Yarn Tex (P) Ltd., (2007) 6 SCC 236. It did not in those terms. What the Constitution Bench held was that the observations in Greater Bombay on legislative competence did not form the ratio of that decision, and it then laid down the contrary proposition. The distinction matters when the point is argued.
The DRT question — and where it is still open
For a multi-state co-operative bank the position is clean. Clause (vi) was inserted into the definition of “bank” in Section 2(d) of the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act, 1993 with effect from 15 January 2013, and names multi-state co-operative banks expressly. Gayatri can go to a DRT.
For a State-registered urban co-operative bank the position is genuinely unsettled, and anyone advising on it should say so. Such banks are not named in Section 2(d); the only route in is through “banking company”. Greater Bombay held the 1993 Act did not apply to co-operative banks. Pandurang was not an RDB Act case and decided nothing about Section 2(d). And Parliament’s own conduct cuts against the wider reading — if “banking company” already covered co-operative banks, inserting clause (vi) in 2013 for multi-state banks alone would have been unnecessary.
The question is live. On 29 December 2025 the Bombay High Court referred to a larger Bench the question whether recovery proceedings by State co-operative banks are governed by the 1993 Act, noting that Sections 18 and 31 of that Act refer only to multi-state co-operative banks.
Should you apply?
Apply if you are an advocate of five years’ standing with recovery, SARFAESI, DRT or banking-documentation exposure, and you can be at Jagtial. The subject matter is better than the notice suggests: a head-office legal role at a multi-state bank with eighty-five branches means SARFAESI notices and possession proceedings, DRT applications, title and documentation vetting, staff and disciplinary matters, consumer complaints, RBI inspection compliance, and the co-operative-law side before the Central Registrar. That is a genuinely broad in-house brief, and banking recovery practice is portable — it is the skill set every bank, NBFC and ARC hires for.
The age ceiling of 65 is the other signal. It is unusually high, and it means this post is open to a retired bank law officer or a senior advocate in a way that a Young Professional post never is. If you are in that position, this is worth a look.
Before you accept, get in writing what the notification does not say: the nature of the engagement, its length, the remuneration, and whether there is any renewal provision. Jagtial is a district town in northern Telangana; a candidate relocating from Hyderabad or outside the State should settle those terms first.
Three days. The form is short. If it appeals, do it today.
Disclaimer: This post is a summary prepared for the information of readers and does not constitute legal advice. The notification does not state the number of vacancies, the remuneration or the tenure, and carries no reference number or date of issue; candidates must confirm those directly with the bank. The bank’s business and branch figures are its own published statements and trade-press reporting, not audited figures. The account of the regulatory framework, the recovery routes and the state of the law on the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act, 1993 is the writer’s own analysis and forms no part of the notification. The reference to the Reserve Bank’s penalty of 25 September 2025 is a matter of public regulatory record and is included because it bears on the nature of the work. Candidates must read the official notification in full and rely on it alone. Lawizard.in accepts no responsibility for any decision taken on the basis of this post.
Sources: The Gayatri Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., notification for the post of Law Officer and careers page; LiveLaw job update; Reserve Bank of India, press release dated 25 September 2025 imposing a monetary penalty on the bank; Banking Regulation Act, 1949, sections 22, 23, 36AAA, 45, 47A and 56; Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 39 of 2020); Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002; Pandurang Ganpati Chaugule v. Vishwasrao Patil Murgud Sahakari Bank Ltd., (2020) 9 SCC 215; Greater Bombay Co-operative Bank Ltd. v. United Yarn Tex (P) Ltd., (2007) 6 SCC 236; Sandeep S. Ghandat v. Reserve Bank of India, 2026 INSC 955; Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002, section 2(1)(c); Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act, 1993, sections 2(d) and 18; RBI (Urban Co-operative Banks — Licensing, Scheduling and Regulatory Classification) Guidelines, 2025.
