Shiv Sena union to FM: Block LIC IPO till IDBI Bank imbroglio rectified

Pune (Maharashtra), Dec 23 (IANS) Making a plea for ordinary policy holders, the Shiv Sena's Bhartiya Kamgar Sena (BKS) on Thursday called upon Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman "not to move ahead with the LIC IPO" till the IDBI Bank Ltd's recently exposed issues are completely rectified.

In a letter to Sitharaman, the BKS General Secretary Dr Raghunath Kuchik – accorded a Minister of State rank – has drawn her attention to the "IDBI blunder" about one of its alleged wilful defaulters, a diamantaire group, Sanghavi Exports International Pvt Ltd.

He said that in a span of 72 hours, the IDBI Bank Ltd came out with 3 different amounts of alleged wilful default of loans by the diamantaire group which has created confusion for the Reserve Bank of India, the IDBI Bank's account holders and also the LIC whose IPO is soon to come.

"Please ask the concerned authorities and RBI officials to do a proper investigation in the interest of the common man, crores of account holders and LIC policy holders, Central government and LIC involvement (as) upcoming IPO on board are at stake," pointed out Dr Kuchik, who is Chairman, Maharashtra Minimum Wages Board.

"We certainly do not wish to have a repetition of the Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi case (that) happened with the Punjab National Bank a couple of years back," the BKS leader cautioned Sitharaman.

He cited how the IDBI Bank Ltd had given out three figures of outstanding loan dues from the diamantaire group – which was first highlighted by IANS (Dec 20).

"Once again, I request you to look into the matter on priority and instruct the authorities not to move ahead with the LIC IPO unless this IDBI Bank issue is completely rectified as per the RBI policy," Dr Kuchik said.

The BKS missive came hours after the powerful All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) General Secretary S Nagarajan wrote to the RBI Governor how bank officers are "seriously disturbed" over the recent revelations, as the Centre and LIC own 97 per cent of the IDBI Bank Ltd.

"The contradictory stand by IDBI Bank Ltd before various authorities is certainly intriguing and requires reporting of factual position to the public at large who are directly or indirectly involved in the share market operations," urged Nagarajan.

Mumbai-based AIBOA leader Vishwas Utagi on Thursday said that the IDBI Bank's latest annual report (FY 2020-2021) has stated that out of its total NPA of Rs 36,212 crore, a big chunk of Rs 13,392 crore is concentrated in only top 4 accounts.

"Who are these top 4 willful defaulters, from which sector and since when? Considering the ongoing crisis of confidence, will the Madam Finance Minister, RBI Governor and LIC Chairman order the IDBI Bank to come clean and enlighten the general public on them," Utagi demanded.

Nevertheless, IDBI Bank Ltd sources insist that the goof-up in the public notice (Dec 19) was a genuine error, though a contrary impression of a 'scam' was created in the public after the regulatory filing (Dec 20) followed by a fresh public notice (Dec 21), but claim that remedial measures are being initiated.