Bank scam: Kerala HC to take up two crucial pleas Monday
KOCHI: At a time when the death of a woman depositor of Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank has triggered an outrage across the state, the Kerala High Court is set to consider a plea seeking a CBI probe into the `100-crore loan scam. The plea has been pending before the court since August 4, 2021 and it has been posted for consideration on Monday.
Seventy-year-old Philomena Devassy died on July 27 at Thrissur Medical College Hospital. Though Rs 30 lakh was deposited in the bank by she and her husband Devassy, she died without money for treatment as the bank failed to release her fund.
The case is again posted before the court when the loan fraud has sparked a hot political debate.
The petition last came up before the court on November 12, 2021. Then, the state government had filed a counter affidavit opposing the plea filed by M V Suresh, a former employee of the bank, seeking a CBI probe in the scam. The state submitted that there was no necessity to transfer the investigation to the CBI as the crime branch is probing the case in an effective and fair manner.
The enforcement directorate had launched a preliminary probe into the fraud, but it didn’t make much progress, said Suresh. In his petition, Suresh said money to the tune of Rs 300 crore was siphoned off from various accounts at the bank in collusion with the managing committee controlled by the CPM.
Loans were sanctioned against property pledged by customers without their knowledge. The money deposited by the common man has also been diverted to many known and unknown persons.
The petitioner alleged that the money looted by the persons has been used for illegal trade and anti-national activities. The investigation by the police is being sabotaged by the political pressure groups in the ruling front. Hence, the probe should be entrusted with the CBI and enforcement directorate to identify the original and real perpetrators behind the scam.
HC ASKS FOR NUMBER OF MATURED FDS
A single judge of the Kerala High Court has directed the state government to inform it of the number of matured fixed deposits in the Karuvannur bank. The court also asked it to inform it of the number of applications requesting the withdrawal of matured deposits so far. The court issued the order on a petition filed by Joshy Antony, a depositor of the bank, seeking a directive to return the deposited amount.