Accusing the Modi government of "protecting its crony friends", the Congress today asked why it is not ordering a probe into the banking frauds in the country, including the ICICI bank case.
Congress leader Pawan Khera asked whether the government would order an investigation into the ICICI "scam" in which its CEO is allegedly embroiled and direct every chief of a private bank to declare their relationship with loanees.
"Instead of oversight, audit, regulations and protection of interests of account holder depositors, stakeholders and shareholders, Modi Government is busy protecting its crony friends," he alleged at a press conference here.
The Congress leader said the entire fraud is identical to scams perpetrated by Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Jatin Mehta "who have fleeced and fled the country under the protection of the Modi Government".
"Will the protagonists of this scam too be permitted to escape the country?
"The government cannot just shrug its shoulders and say that we are not responsible, we are not looking at ICICI. This cannot be done," he said, alleging increase in cases of bank frauds during the NDA rule.
Khera asked why the government did not order a thorough probe when the news reports and whistleblower's letters to the prime minister emerged as early in March this year.
"What explains the complete silence and the declared 'non-interference' of the Modi Government in this saga of ICICI Bank frauds?," he asked.
"Will acting Finance Minister Piyush Goyal, who himself has been guilty of conflict of interest and impropriety, answer when will the government order investigation asking every CEO of private banks to declare their any relationship with any loanee? "
The Congress leader alleged that the lack of oversight and regulatory mechanisms have led to 'bank loot scams' worth Rs 61,036 crore and have eroded the trust of common man in banks.
He said a Rs 2,849 crore exposure of ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank, and the "behind the scenes murky deals" questions the role of its CEO and it is one such saga of 'Banking Fraud'.
After much delay, he said the market regulator SEBI has given a show cause notice to ICICI Bank's CEO and said that it didn't adhere to its code of conduct, which required the disclosure of any conflict of interest in the case.
He said as per media reports top Finance Ministry officials reflect that Modi Government will not interfere in this 'banking fraud'.
Khera also alleged that bad loans of private banks have risen by a whopping 317 pc under Modi government, which stood at Rs 26,112 crore in 2014-15 and rose to Rs 1,09,076 crore in 2017-18. "Who is responsible for them?" he asked.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)