'Mistake' by DRT kicks off row

FARIDKOT: An order of the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), Delhi-II, directing attachment of property of some close relatives of senior Congress leader and MP Jagmeet Singh Brar for recovery of loan given by Punjab and Sindh Bank, has sparked an unsavoury controversy.
The order of the tribunal which carries the signatures of recovery officer RK Bhoria was issued on February 2, 2003.It declares Ripjit Singh Brar, Sukhdev Singh Dhillon and Gurprit Kaur Dhillon (brother, brother-in-law and sister of Jagmeet Brar respectively) defaulters of Punjab & Sindh Bank to the tune of about Rs 47.25 crore. But the loanees claim that the tribunal has mentioned a highly inflated amount.
In a statement issued to the press, after the bank authorities started proceedings for attachment of the immovable property of the defaulters in Faridkot and Muktsar districts for recovery of Rs 47.25 crore, Ripjit Brar has claimed that it was not Rs 47.25 crore but Rs 47.25 lakh which were their outstanding dues towards the bank.
He alleged that a mistake on the part of the debt recovery tribunal (DRT) which mentioned the amount Rs 47.25 lakh as Rs 47.25 crore, in recovery notices issued a few days ago, had caused an irreparable loss to the reputation of the family and affected political image of Jagmeet Brar. When Times New Network contacted assistant general manager (AGM) of Assets Recovery Branch at Delhi, he expressed his inability to comment on the issue.
Ripjeet Brar, one of the directors of the Chandigarh Packing Product Ltd said that the company had taken a loan of Rs 50 lakh from Punjab and Sindh Bank, Delhi, in 1993-1994. The issue could not be subscribed and the company went into liquidation and was closed. He said that out of the loan amount, Rs 25 lakh was returned and the remaining amount accumulated to Rs 47 lakh after adding interest.
The controversy started when Punjab & Sindh Bank authorities asked the revenue officials in Faridkot and Muktsar districts to attach the immovable property of the defaulters for recovery of the loan. Officials of assets recovery branch of the bank, Krishan Jit Pal and Surjan Singh Arneja reached Sadiq village in Faridkot District on Friday and asked the halqa patwari to attach Sukhdev Dhillon’s one acre prime land.
Brar said that now when the mistake has been detected, the officials of the tribunal were after him, urging him not to take the matter to the union law ministry.