Congress questions Modi government's silence on ICICI bank 'fraud'
New Delhi, June 4: In view of fresh allegations levelled by a whistleblower against ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar over fraud loans, the Congress on Monday questioned Modi government's "silence" and "non-interference" on the issue, asking why it didn't order a probe.
"Instead of oversight, audit, regulations and protection of interests of account holder's depositors, stakeholders and shareholders, Modi government is busy protecting its crony friends," Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera told media persons here.
"Why did the government not order a thorough probe when the news reports and whistleblower's letters to the Prime Minister emerged as early in March this year?
"What explains the complete silence and the declared non-interference of the Modi government in this saga of ICICI Bank frauds?" he asked.
Khera also asked if acting Finance Minister Piyush Goyal, who himself has been accused of conflict of interest and impropriety, would order an investigation asking every private bank CEP to declare their relationship with any loanee.
Noting that the government itself has admitted that NPAs have risen by 230 per cent - from Rs 2,51,054 crore in March 2014 to Rs 8,31,141 crore in December 2017, he said that lack of oversight and regulatory mechanisms have precipitated into massive bank loot scams worth Rs 61,036 crore and have eroded the trust of the common people in banks.
"The Rs 2,849 crore exposure of the ICICI Bank and the behind the scenes murky deals questions the role of its CEO in one such saga of banking fraud," he added.
"Media reports and whistleblowers alike have alleged that the ICCI Bank CEO and her family have invested Rs 325 crore in subsidiary of a large consortium - which on record has a loan default and a large NPA.
"After much delay, SEBI has given a show cause notice to the ICICI bank's CEO and said that it didn't adhere to its code of conduct, which required the disclosure of any conflict of interest in the case involving Videocon Group and NuPower Renewables, a firm owned by her husband," he said.
Noting every bank goes through four stages of audit - statutory, internal, and concurrent audits and RBI inspection, he said that despite this, the entire fraud escaped everybody's attention and sought to know why the audits had not uncovered it.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
