PNB Scam: PNB refuses to share information on Nirav Modi under RTI

Mumbai: The Punjab National Bank, which has been at the centre of the multi-crore Nirav Modi fraud, has refused to provide information in response to an RTI query about the billionaire jewellers’ alleged fraud.

A Mumbai-based RTI activist, Jeetendra Ghadge, had sought information from the bank on the action that it has taken up against wilful defaulters and on Non-Performing Assets (NPA) in the Mumbai region. The RTI reply by the Public Information Officer (PIO) of PNB said that the data which the applicant asked for was not readily available in compiled form.

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“PNB straight away refused to give information regarding the defaulters and  the action taken against them in Mumbai. The rejection came surprisingly quickly — within 15 days after I had filed the RTI on March 12,” Ghadge said. Ghadge had filed a similar RTI in 2016. PNB had then shared the list of the defaulters; however, it refused to give information on the action the bank took against defaulters, Ghadge said.

“All banks need to inform the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) about the action taken against defaulters on a quarterly basis. But when it comes to giving the same information to the public, banks like PNB give irresponsible excuses, totally ignoring the public interest at large. At a time when there is serious trust deficit between banks and the general public, it is the right time for banks to suo-motu publish this information on their websites,” Ghadge added.