The issue is concerned with the constitutional legitimacy of Section 45-S of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934, as it stands amended in 1997. The appellants, old-style financial ... intermediaries in the form of shroffs (being unincorporated firms such as partnership firms), assailed the provision on the ground that it offended their fundamental rights under Articles 14 (equality) and 19(1)(g) (freedom to carry on trade) of the Indian Constitution. The RBI added Section 45-S to disallow unincorporated entities from taking public deposits when they deal in financial activities, to safeguard depositors and control the monetary system.