SC to hear PIL on PNB scam today

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider on February 21 a PIL by a Delhi advocate for framing guidelines for disbursal of corporate loan above Rs 10 crore following the unearthing of the PNB scam.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud allowed a plea made by advocate J P Dhanda for an urgent listing of the PIL filed by Vineet Dhanda.

The petitioner, among others, sought a direction to the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India to frame guidelines in granting of the loan of the 10 crores and above to ensure safety and recovery of such loans.

He also sought direction to make the officials and employees of the bank (which sanctioned the loan on the deficient documents) liable for the recovery of the loan by affecting the recovery from their properties even after their retirement.

The petitioner-advocate also requested for providing the list of the borrowers of loan of more than Rs 500 crores.

Another PIL by advocate M L Sharma sought an SIT probe into the banking fraud, involving billionaire jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.

A probe into the role of top management of the Punjab National Bank (PNB) was also sought.