The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) on Monday red flagged veteran banker K.V. Kamath’s appointment to a panel constituted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on a one-time debt restructuring of covid-19 related stressed loan accounts, citing his alleged involvement in the Chanda Kocchar case.
Kamath’s name has appeared in the first information report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Kochhar, the former managing director of ICICI Bank, the association pointed out in a letter to RBI governor Shaktikanta Das.
“We draw your attention to the reports that have appeared in the media about the infamous nepotism scandal in ICICI bank involving Chanda Kochhar for sanctioning a huge loan of more than ₹3,000 crore unscrupulously to Videocon company," the AIBEA letter said.
On Friday, RBI had announced the constitution of an expert committee under Kamath to suggest financial parameters for resolution of stressed assets amid the coronavirus crisis. The panel is expected to submit its recommendations to RBI, which will notify them along with modifications, if any, in 30 days.
The panel will also undertake process validation for resolution plans to be implemented under this framework, without going into the commercial aspects, in respect of all accounts with an aggregate exposure of ₹1,500 crore or more at the time of invocation.
“It is reported that besides being the former chief executive officer and non-executive chairman of ICICI Bank, he was also a member of the committee that approved the loans that have now become questionable and are under investigation. Hence, we strongly feel that at this stage making such a person as chairman of this expert committee is avoidable and needs to be reviewed," said AIBEA general secretary C.H. Venkatachalam.
In May, Kamath had demitted office as the president of the National Development Bank led by the five BRICS member countries on completing his five-year tenure. He is credited with having built the multilateral lending institution from scratch after retiring from ICICI Bank in 2009. BRICS consists of five of the largest emerging market economies, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
In January 2019, the CBI had booked Kochhar’s husband and Venugopal Dhoot for criminal conspiracy and cheating. It had registered a preliminary inquiry against Deepak Kochhar and Dhoot in March 2018 to investigate irregularities in the ₹40,000-crore loan made by a consortium of lenders to the Videocon group. It highlighted an alleged conflict of interest in the ₹3,250-crore loan disbursed to the Videocon group by ICICI Bank.
Click here to read the Mint ePaperLivemint.com is now on Telegram. Join Livemint channel in your Telegram and stay updated
