KOLKATA: Lenders have now got the Supreme Court clearance to name and shame willful defaulters. An apex court bench has removed all obstacles to publish photographs and other details of such defaulters in newspapers.
Banks had been following this strategy in most states barring a few like West Bengal and Kerala because of some legal blockades.
The Supreme Court judgment has now removed all obstacles and banks are free to publish details of defaulters anywhere in the country, bankers said.
"The judgment has removed all the barriers in naming and shaming defaulters. It' a very positive development for the banking industry," United Bank of IndiaBSE -1.91 % (UBI) Executive Director Deepak Narang told ET. He said UBI would soon start doing this in major cities.
A bench headed by Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla upheld a November 2013 order of the Bombay High Court that allowed State Bank of IndiaBSE -1.39 % to publish the names and photographs of directors and guarantors of a Mumbai-based firm, DJ Exim (India), in newspapers after it turned a defaulter.
"So far, the SARFAESI Act has no express provision for publication of photographs of defaulters. There were conflicting verdicts between high courts.
The Supreme Court diktat now clears all doubts," a senior banker said.
Earlier, the high courts in Bombay, Madras and Madhya Pradesh had allowed banks to publish the names and photographs of defaulters, while the Calcutta and Kerala courts went against it.
Kolkata-headquartered lenders Allahabad BankBSE -1.26 % and Uco BankBSE -1.73 % too will be benefited as they can publish photographs and other details in local newspapers. UBI, for instance, had in several earlier occasions published details of Kolkata-based defaulters in other metros like Mumbai but not in Kolkata editions of the same newspapers.
Link times Of India
CBI exposes scam of Rs 250 crore in Dena Bank-Business Standard
CBI has unearthed a Rs 250 crore scam in public sector Dena Bank wherein the branch manager and a private person allegedly took loan using forged documents on behalf of seven private companies which had deposits in the bank.
CBI alleged that Vimal Barot of Showman Group in Mumbai in connivance with then Branch Manager Pritam Vidyadhar Nagarkar and unknown private persons of seven corporate groups committed fraud of Rs 220 crore with the bank.
Sources said it Barot allegedly presented himself as a representative of the bank before the corporate group targetted by him while before the bank he would switch role to be financial advisor of the group.
Using the tactics, Barot in collusion with Nagarkar, who was posted at Malabar Hills branch, facilitated the Dena Bank to mobilise term deposits to the tune of Rs 256.49 crore from these corporate groups.
"On the basis of these term deposits, various loan applications purportedly issued by these organisations and corporates, he, in crimrinal conspiracy wih the Branch Manager availed loan of Rs 220 crore from the Bank," CBI spokesperson said here today.
She said the accused was allegedly instrumental in raising loan against term deposits from Dena Bank and diverted the proceeds for his own purpose.
"The above facts disclosed the commission of cognisance offences of criminal conspiracy, impersonation, cheating, forgery and abuse of official position by the above said accused persons," she said.
The agency carried out searches at three places in Mumbai at the residential and official premises of the accused.
No comments:
Post a Comment