The audience at the FICCI Banking Conclave in Mumbai on Tuesday broke into laughter when Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D Subbarao took a dig over RBI Deputy Governor KC Chakrabarty and State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri.

RBI Deputy Governor Chakrabarty's spat with Chaudhuri over the topic of cash reserve requirement (CRR) is well known. The debate over CRR became furious on August 23, when the SBI chairman called for abolition of CRR - the proportion of deposits which banks keep with the central bank. On August 27, Chakrabarty snubbed the SBI chairman, saying if he wasn't able to do business in the current regulatory environment, he should find some other place.

Taking a dig over the spat between Chakrabarty and Chaudhuri, D Subbarao said, "I have appointed a committee to see if we should do away with the CRR. Members of the committee will be Dr Chakrabarty and Pratip Chaudhuri. The two will be locked in a room and they can't submit the report till my term is over."

People listening to D Subbarao broke into laughter. When a reporter asked D Subbarao if his comment was just a joke, he simply asked the reporter what he thought.

Chakrabarty said there was no question of a debate on regulatory issues, while Chaudhuri insisted that the debate on the topic of CRR would continue, and added that he still hold the view that CRR wasn't helping anybody.