MUMBAI: Bombay high court on January 9 discharged a former AGM of Central Bank from a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and offences of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2018 over an alleged Rs 17 crore loss to the bank’s Peddar Road branch and head office, for want of any proof of connivance.
The CBI case was that Arvind Sethi, as head of the branch, Mumbai main office of Central Bank of India had fraudulently processed and forwarded a loan proposal for Rs 5 crore without diligence “intentionally’’ to help the co-accused firms.
There are total 14 accused in the case and prosecution case argued by advocate Ameeta Kuttikrishnan for CBI and A R Patil for the State was that Sethi conspired with co-accused in 2011-12 and cheated the Peddar Road Branch and head office in Mumbai of funds worth Rs 17 crores.
Sethi had approached the HC after a special CBI court dismissed his discharge plea in September 2019. His lawyers Prashant Pandey and Dinesh Jadhwani argued that the loan in favour of ‘Aashish Communication’ was already sanctioned at Peddar Road Branch, Mumbai, by the officials there and the loan was above five crores it was referred to the Head Office. “The documents on the basis of which the loan was sanctioned, were scrutinized at Peddar Road Branch,’’ said Pandey, where Sethi was not working but later on he was transferred to the Head office.
The HC said the allegation against was mainly that he “failed to observe the lending norms’’ before submitting the loan proposal for sanction and there is nothing to show he was a beneficiary from such sanction, nor to suggest collusion.
For failing to be diligent he is already punished by being removed from service, said the HC.
The evidence on record falls short to frame charge against him and does not attribute any overt act of connivance or conspiracy by him said the HC adding “In the facts of the present case, failure to follow the procedure while sanctioning the loan cannot by itself be sufficient to charge the petitioner for the alleged offences in the absence of any incriminating materials indicating his active involvement.’’ It thus dropped the criminal case against him.
The CBI case was that Arvind Sethi, as head of the branch, Mumbai main office of Central Bank of India had fraudulently processed and forwarded a loan proposal for Rs 5 crore without diligence “intentionally’’ to help the co-accused firms.
There are total 14 accused in the case and prosecution case argued by advocate Ameeta Kuttikrishnan for CBI and A R Patil for the State was that Sethi conspired with co-accused in 2011-12 and cheated the Peddar Road Branch and head office in Mumbai of funds worth Rs 17 crores.
Sethi had approached the HC after a special CBI court dismissed his discharge plea in September 2019. His lawyers Prashant Pandey and Dinesh Jadhwani argued that the loan in favour of ‘Aashish Communication’ was already sanctioned at Peddar Road Branch, Mumbai, by the officials there and the loan was above five crores it was referred to the Head Office. “The documents on the basis of which the loan was sanctioned, were scrutinized at Peddar Road Branch,’’ said Pandey, where Sethi was not working but later on he was transferred to the Head office.
The HC said the allegation against was mainly that he “failed to observe the lending norms’’ before submitting the loan proposal for sanction and there is nothing to show he was a beneficiary from such sanction, nor to suggest collusion.
For failing to be diligent he is already punished by being removed from service, said the HC.
The evidence on record falls short to frame charge against him and does not attribute any overt act of connivance or conspiracy by him said the HC adding “In the facts of the present case, failure to follow the procedure while sanctioning the loan cannot by itself be sufficient to charge the petitioner for the alleged offences in the absence of any incriminating materials indicating his active involvement.’’ It thus dropped the criminal case against him.
