Govt approves prosecution of Apex Bank chief, nine others

BHOPAL: The state government on Tuesday accorded sanction to prosecute Apex Bank chairman Bhawar Singh Shekhawat and nine other bank officials for 'wrongful' settlement of loan of IAS Ramesh Thete's wife Manda.
The IAS officer and his wife have also been made accused in the case, said officials.
In October, SPE had registered an FIR against 12 persons, including Manda Thete.Shekhawat's name, who is also a senior BJP leader, was included in the case during the investigation after it was found that he had approved the loan settlement against set norms, said SPE officials.
He has been booked under Sections of Prevention of Corruption Act, said the officer.
Apart from Shekhawat, the case was registered against Manda Thete, Apex Bank managing director R B Bhatti, its deputy general manager (DGM) Keshav Deshpande, legal advisor O P Patidar and other officials S N Lodha, Arvind Singh Sengar and Sushil Mishra.
The Apex Bank had given a loan of Rs 25 lakh to Manda in 2001 in violation of rules. She, however, failed to repay the loan. The loan amount rose to Rs 93 lakh, including interest accrued on the principal. When she failed to repay installments despite notices, the bank registered a case of cheating against her.
Notwithstanding the fact that a case was already registered against her, five officials of the bank entered into an understating with her and settled the issue in return for Rs 53 lakh.
According to the SPE officials, legal advisors submitted a false legal opinion to the bank paving the way for clearing obstacles in the settlement. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and state government rules forbids any such settlement on defaulted loans, said the SPE officer who investigated the case.
Their was no need to apply for sanction to prosecute the IAS officer as he has been booked under Section 120 of IPC in this case. Similarly, sanction was not required in his wife's case, being a private person.