NEW DELHI: Public sector banks should disclose details of cases pertaining to persons and establishments whose bad debts of over Rs 100 crore have been written off, the Delhi High Court has held.
This disclosure involves an element of public interest and tax payers have a right to know the manner in which state- run banks sanctioned them, Justice Rajiv Shakdher said
"Prima facie, in my view, this information may have to be disclosed," he said.
The court's order came on a plea filed by the State Bank of India (SBI) against a January 20 order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) asking the bank to supply to RTI applicant Raju Vazhakkala information regarding total Non- Performing Assets (NPAs) written off between 2004 and 2013.
The bank contended that it has a fiduciary relationship with the account holders and the information should be exempted from disclosure under Section 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act.
It also submitted that Section 44 of the SBI Act 1955 also prohibits disclosure of customer's information to any third party.
The judge brushed aside the SBI's contention and observed that the reason "I have come to this prima facie conclusion is this: the petitioner (SBI) is undoubtedly a nationalised bank, which on its own is showing written off as NPAs, its loan accounts having outstanding of Rs 100 cr or more.
"The sheer extent of the write-off would, in my view, perhaps, inject an element of public interest in the matter, which is the exception provided for in Section 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act, 2005," the court added.
It also said this "matter needs further examination" and issued notice to Vazhakkala, a Kochi resident.
The court also asked the RTI applicant to file counter affidavit within four weeks.
"Rejoinder, if any, be filed before the next date of hearing. List on September
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Finance Ministry Assessing Capital Requirement of PSU Banks: Report-NDTV
The Finance Ministry has asked public sector banks to submit their immediate and mid-term capital requirement from the government to comply with global capital adequacy norms and also to fund their growth plans.
"Besides current fiscal need, banks have been asked to submit five-year capital requirement," sources said.
The government has started assessment of capital requirement of public sector banks. It has already received presentations of six public sector banks-- UCO Bank, United Bank of India, Allahabad Bank, Punjab National Bank, Punjab & Sindh Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce.
Presentations by State Bank of India, Union Bank of India, IDBI Bank and Central Bank of India were made today while Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Bank of Maharashtra would make their presentations tomorrow in Mumbai.
South-based Andhra Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Corporation Bank, Canara Bank, Syndicate Bank and Vijaya Bank would make presentation on July 3 in Bengaluru.
The presentation includes overall fund raising roadmap, including from internal accrual, selling of their non-core assets, divestment of government stake and fund support from the Centre.
Last year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that to be in line with Basel-III norms, there is a requirement to infuse Rs 2.40 lakh crore as equity by 2018 in public sector banks.
Keeping the huge capital requirement in the mind, the Union Cabinet in December 2014, allowed public sector banks to raise up to Rs 1.60 lakh crore from markets by diluting government holding to 52 per cent in phases so as to meet Basel III capital adequacy norms.
The Cabinet asked the PSBs to broad base retail shareholding while going in for the fund raising.
Out of 27 PSBs, Government of India controls 22 through majority holding. In the remaining 5 banks, state-run SBI holds majority stake.
Last fiscal, the government infused Rs 6,990 crore in nine public sector banks, including SBI, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank for enhancing their capital and meeting Basel III norms.
The total government support provided to PSU banks towards capitalisation during the past four years was Rs 58,634 crore.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/47804719.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Finance Ministry Assessing Capital Requirement of PSU Banks: Report-NDTV
The Finance Ministry has asked public sector banks to submit their immediate and mid-term capital requirement from the government to comply with global capital adequacy norms and also to fund their growth plans.
"Besides current fiscal need, banks have been asked to submit five-year capital requirement," sources said.
The government has started assessment of capital requirement of public sector banks. It has already received presentations of six public sector banks-- UCO Bank, United Bank of India, Allahabad Bank, Punjab National Bank, Punjab & Sindh Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce.
Presentations by State Bank of India, Union Bank of India, IDBI Bank and Central Bank of India were made today while Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Bank of Maharashtra would make their presentations tomorrow in Mumbai.
South-based Andhra Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Corporation Bank, Canara Bank, Syndicate Bank and Vijaya Bank would make presentation on July 3 in Bengaluru.
The presentation includes overall fund raising roadmap, including from internal accrual, selling of their non-core assets, divestment of government stake and fund support from the Centre.
Last year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that to be in line with Basel-III norms, there is a requirement to infuse Rs 2.40 lakh crore as equity by 2018 in public sector banks.
Keeping the huge capital requirement in the mind, the Union Cabinet in December 2014, allowed public sector banks to raise up to Rs 1.60 lakh crore from markets by diluting government holding to 52 per cent in phases so as to meet Basel III capital adequacy norms.
The Cabinet asked the PSBs to broad base retail shareholding while going in for the fund raising.
Out of 27 PSBs, Government of India controls 22 through majority holding. In the remaining 5 banks, state-run SBI holds majority stake.
Last fiscal, the government infused Rs 6,990 crore in nine public sector banks, including SBI, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank for enhancing their capital and meeting Basel III norms.
The total government support provided to PSU banks towards capitalisation during the past four years was Rs 58,634 crore.
Tax payers need to know how PSBs write-off bad loans: HC-Indian Express
Disclosure involved an element of public interest; tax payers have right to know.
Why should public sector banks (PSBs) not disclose details of cases where they have written off thousands of crore of rupees as bad debts?
After all, these banks do not only function on deposits from people but their equity capital is also structured on the tax payers’ money.
Observing this, the Delhi High Court has prima facie held as bad the PSBs resistance in divulging information about the entities which availed the benefits of their loans being written off as bad debts or unrecoverable amount.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher, during a recent hearing, observed that this disclosure involved an element of public interest and tax payers have a right to know the manner in which PSBs sanctioned them.
The judge noted there were several cases wherein the banks wrote off debts to the tune of Rs 100 crore or more while the government kept infusing tax payers’ money in the form of equity capital. -
See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/business/business-others/tax-payers-need-to-know-how-psbs-write-off-bad-loans-hc-2/#sthash.XV9tQpKG.dpuf
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