TN Assembly Confidence Trick Meant To Hush Up Jaya Murder?

Opinion

TSV Hari, Chennai

2107 words, 12 minutes reading

Southern Features News Services Exclusive

Did Sasikala mar Tamil Nadu’s political horizon to cover up what can be a suspected case of murder of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa?

Sasikala’s flunkey Edappadi Palanisamy [EPS] shamelessly has claimed to have won – what can be termed the ‘mistrust’ vote on the floor of the assembly. Reports said Sasikala was given the privilege of enjoying the scene on a television screen within the Bangalore Parapana Agrahara prison and gloated over the event.

The event points to a crime most foul: the possible murder of former CM J Jayalalithaa.

Pointers:

I.                On September 22, Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospital suffering from ‘fever and dehydration’ Operative portions of a media report: Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospital for fever and dehydration. The hospital then shortly issued a statement saying she was under observation and that she had “no fever now” and was subsisting on a “normal diet.”

II.            But, Ramaseetha, a lady doctor who had been stationed at the emergency ward in Apollo, told the media that the CM was brought in dead. Rather surprisingly, despite the lady being ready to depose in court, no one has asked her to. OPS made fantastic charges. But, he has failed to file a complaint in a police station in this regard. Deepa, Jayalalithaa's niece who can gain from this politically, [the statement was made at a platform provided by Deepa] is yet to make any reaction to this claim public. Why did it take so long for Apollo polo players to challenge this woman and get her jailed?

III.       On September 24 AIADMK party members dismissed reports that Jayalalithaa will be flown to Singapore for further treatment. On these reports that appeared in a section of media, including on social media, AIADMK party spokesperson CR Saraswathi said, “It is false information. She is not going anywhere...someone is spreading wrong news. She will soon return home.”

IV.        Apollo Hospitals said that Jayalalithaa would be discharged from the hospital in a few days and would resume normal official duties soon.

V.             Operative portion of a Press Trust of India report published in the Times of India, September 27 2016 citing an official press release of the Government of Tamil Nadu:

VI.        Holding an official meeting on the Cauvery row at a hospital here where she is being treated, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today deputed a cabinet colleague to attend a meeting with her Karnataka counterpart and the Centre as suggested by the Supreme Court on the issue.

VII.    Jayalalithaa, undergoing treatment for fever and dehydration, held an hour-long consultation with state Chief Secretary P Ramamohana Rao, Advocate General R Muthukumarasamy and other senior state officials at the Apollo Hospital in the city, where she was admitted on September 22.

VIII.  “The chief minister was apprised that the Supreme Court had directed the Attorney General to facilitate a meeting with Executive Heads of the States of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka with the Ministry of Water Resources to recommend ways to break the impasse on the issue,” an official press release said. She discussed in detail the issues to be taken up by Tamil Nadu at the meeting and also “dictated” her speech which will be read out there by Rao, it said.

IX.        In her report, Times of India dated the same day, journalist Julie Mariappan added:

X.            The meeting in Apollo Hospitals saw the participation of chief secretary P Rama Mohana Rao, advocate general R Muthukumaraswamy, advisor to government Sheela Balakrishnan, principal secretary I to chief minister K N Venkataramanan and Secretary IV A Ramalingam.

XI.        Operative excerpts from a Times of India report published on October 22 2016 by Julie Mariappan that said: Governor C Vidyasagar Rao visited Apollo Hospitals, where chief minister J Jayalalithaa is undergoing treatment. This is his second visit to the hospital, ever since the chief minister was admitted on September 22.

“The Governor visited the CM in the ward where she is undergoing treatment. The governor was happy to note that the CM is progressing well,” a Raj Bhavan statement said, after Rao’s visit.

Apollo Hospitals chairman Pratap C Reddy briefed the governor in detail about the treatment being given to the CM. Jayalalithaa is being treated by a team of experts consisting of doctors from critical care group of the hospitals, senior cardiologist, senior respiratory physician, senior consultant, infectious diseases, endocrinologist, diabetologist and dieticians.

“The chairman, Apollo hospitals appraised [sic] the governor that the CM continues to be under treatment and observation for all vital parameters, respiratory support and passive physiotherapy. The CM is interacting and responding remarkably to the treatment,” the statement said.

Rao thanked the team of doctors attending the CM for the “excellent care” given by them.

XII.   Rao was one of those who actually never got to see Jayalalithaa, actress Gautami Tadimalla said.

Another media report added thus:

Questioned whether Tamil Nadu Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao met Jayalalithaa in the hospital, Dr Balaji [who was addressing the media along with London physician Dr Beale and Dr A Babu] said the Governor met her during his second visit. “Jayalalithaa showed him a thumbs up sign,” Balaji said.

  

XIII.  A television report averred that Rao actually did not meet Jayalalithaa at all!

There was worse.

XIV.                       Those denied the opportunity of meeting Jayalalithaa include the number 2 in TN cabinet OPS, India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, TN’s leader of opposition Stalin, and of course, the Governor – all of whom are constitutional authorities.

So, here are queries on the gaffes:

a.             Was Jayalalithaa alive when brought in on September 22 2016?

b.            If yes, why were constitutional authorities like the Governor, PM, acting CM, Leader of Opposition and others prevented from seeing the ailing Jayalalithaa?

c.               When did Jayalalithaa actually die – if one were to go along the Apollo statement on December 5 2016? There were a series of flip flops over the timing. And if one goes by the sheer timing of it all, senior journalist Cho Ramaswamy was wheeled into the ICU – when efforts to revive Jayalalithaa, the hospital claimed, were still underway^[1]. 

Did anyone in authority bother to question the doctors who treated Cho Ramaswamy?

The concentric, complex confirmation of the above:

As the CM, EPS holds the home portfolio and hence has the cops under his control. The brown-shirt fraternity of Tamil Nadu is notorious for hushing up high profile murders. Offhand, two instances can be cited. 

The first is the triple murder of former bureaucrat Dr Saravanan, his wife and servant maid. The second is that of Sadiq Batcha, who could have blown the lid off the 2G telecom spectrum scandal. Together, the 2 scams have caused roughly Rs.80 lakh crores to disappear!

The worst part is that latest confidence trick exercise seen in the assembly in its entirety is illegal. It has left the state’s realpolitik mug permanently pock-marked.

Here is why:

a.   The whole exercise began with Sasikala being elected the General Secretary of the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam [AIADMK].

The so-called election was patently illegal if one goes by the constitution of that party. AIADMK by-laws available in the Election Commission’s website state that the party general secretary can only be declared elected by the political unit’s representatives from all the states – including those from Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh plus the Andaman and Nicobar Islands during a specially convened General Council to ‘elect’ a ‘proper’ candidate who ought to have been an uninterrupted member for 5 years. Such an event never happened.

b.  The later-day ‘hero’ and currently ex-Chief Minister O Panneerselvam [OPS] bent double when handing over the relevant resolution to Sasikala a few weeks ago. He ‘implored’ her to be the General Secretary. He became an accessory to a patently illegal act.

c.   On the basis of her election as the AIADMK GS, Sasikala Natarajan claimed to be in possession of the Divine Right to rule TN. To achieve that end, a strange logic was presented: Two power centres cannot exist in the AIADMK, a chorus of yes-men and yes-women said. OPS publicly stated that he was resigning to uphold the larger interests of the party as Sasikala was ‘elected’ as the legislative party leader on the strength of her having already been elected as the GS. One lie became the basis of another lie.

d.  More illegal acts followed. Governor Vidyasagar Rao’s office stated that it did not receive the hard copy of OPS’s resignation. The signature on the faxed copy of the quit letter, reports added, did not tally with the signature appended to his accepting to be CM on the wee hours of December 6 2016. So, the resignation and its acceptance were per se illegal acts.

e.   OPS declared that he was coerced to sign – against his will. That constituted an offence under 503 IPC – which could have been tackled at the level of a local police station. Had OPS registered an FIR, holding the Home Portfolio, OPS could have directed the Director General of Police to summon Sasikala Natarajan for questioning in any police station. In a jiffy, the legislators cocooned in the vice den called Golden Bay Resort would have been scared and scampered to safety, thus scuppering Sasikala’s plans. On its part, the police force has the right to take suo motu action to safeguard law and order. That constituted 2 omissions – contributing to other illegal acts.

Finally, on the basis of all these, Governor Vidyasagar Rao claimed that he had no alternative but to invite Sasikala’s major domo Edappadi Palanisamy [EPS] to form the government.

f.     More illegal acts followed.

EPS got senior IPS officers to disguise themselves as watch and ward staff in the assembly – which is per se illegal. The cops brazenly assaulted the Leader of Opposition and allegedly ripped his shirt off.

Seeing the game slipping away, DMK legislators lost the plot, behaved like organ grinder’s monkeys bitten by rabies infested curs, 2 scorpions and a rattlesnake – simultaneously and went berserk inside the house.

g.   The rules of the house clearly state that if the entire opposition places a demand for a secret ballot, the speaker has to accede to the request. It would be pure conjecture now in hindsight to second guess what could have happened if a secret ballot had been taken. But, that accorded speaker Dhanapal the alibi he needed to evict the opposition to get the confidence vote [more of a confidence trick, rather] passed.

h.  That constitutes another illegal act in itself. But, if someone were to question this in courts of law, the age old bad penny about the supremacy of legislature for acts within its precincts would return with a vengeance. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu, the state once ruled by the likes of Rajagopalachari, Bhaktavatsalam, Annadurai, Kamaraj and MGR has the wallow in the filth of those who shamed democracy. Thespian Kamal Haasan correctly corrupted the spelling and called it de-mock-crazy.

There are some other unanswered questions.

i.     Were OPS and Rao blind to all that happened since September 22 2016 when Jaya was admitted to Apollo Hospitals?

ii.              It was OPS who proposed the name of Sasikala for the post of General Secretary. Since that was illegal, will someone seek legal action for that original sin?

iii.          Would OPS care to explain as to why did he not register a police complaint under 503 IPC charging Sasikala with criminal intimidation?

The role of Dr Subramanian Swamy – who continues to demand a ‘royal treatment’ for Sasikala – triggers a few unanswered questions to be raised:

a.   Did doctor Swamy believe Dr Pratap Reddy – the Chairman of Apollo Hospitals who claimed Jaya had recovered when he tweeted thus on October 26 2016?

JJ bhaktas should be happy because I learn that JJ has got back her consciousness and may be discharged soon.

Dr Swamy is a close friend of Pratap Reddy, according to senior journalist GS Chawla, editor, Punjab Kesri.

Operative portions of a citation:

In a recent article by Punjab Kesri journalist G.S. Chawla the following was said: “People do not know that Subramanian Swamy has been close to the controversial godman Chandraswami and Dr Prathap Reddy of Apollo hospital. All of them were members of a trust founded by Chandraswami. The enforcement directorate had found serious irregularities in the accounts of the trust in which some foreign currency was deposited. The finance ministry planned to act against all the three trustees.”

All along Dr Reddy has been endorsing whatever Sasikala said about Jaya treatment in Apollo.

Dr Swamy was insisting on Sasikala being made CM by Governor Rao.

Now, Dr Swamy has said that “Sasikala should be shifted to a a jail in Tamil Nadu after Palanisamy becomes CM in the interest of security”

b.  Why is Dr Swamy, whose complaint had resulted in the final verdict that sent Sasikala to jail going overboard in being protective of Jaya’s former maid?

[1]

Operative excerpts from an earlier report:

Around 3-o-clock in the evening, senior journalist Cho S Ramaswamy – also unwell and an in-patient at Apollo – was being shifted to the ICCU – as he too had become critical, or so the grapevine said.

One wondered as to how another person would be shifted into the ICCU when it was out of bounds for everyone as Jayalalithaa was in it. Whenever, she occupied that room, it was out of bounds for the rest of humanity.

A little bit of thinking, led to the raising of eyebrows.

“Has something bad happened to Jaya?”

Before long, news channels broke the story that Jaya was no more.

It was retracted a few minutes later by a press statement from Apollo.

The little grey cells in the brain yelled: “It is a ruse by the hospital and the state’s police machinery to disperse the crowds, fearing harm to the hospital.

“Soon, close to midnight, the announcement that she is no more would come,” one muttered under the breath.

It did.

Real reasons behind postponement of Sasikala swearing in revealed

From TSV Hari, Chennai, Vakratund Varma, New Delhi

1178 words, 7 minutes reading

Southern Features News Services Exclusive

Chennai, New Delhi [SFNS] Tamil Nadu’s acting Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao has refused to swear VK Sasikala in as the Chief Minister.

This was despite Sasikala being elected as the leader of the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam legislature party.

“The reason could only be that she may have to answer tough questions in courts. One such case is yet to be registered – and that would pertain to the role played by Sasikala in what seems like extremely mysterious circumstances that led to the sudden death of Jayalalithaa,” a top police official said in Chennai on condition of anonymity.

Governor Rao met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the eve of what could have been the ‘D’ Day for his trip to Chennai to administer the oath of office to Sasikala, media reports said.

Excerpts:

In a major development, AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala’s swearing-in ceremony was deferred.

Tamil Nadu Governor Vidyasagar Rao sought the opinion of the Attorney General in view of the controversy surrounding Sasikala’s appointment as CM.

VK Sasikala was set to take oath as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on February 7 2017.

Top sources told SFNS that a controversial press conference held in Chennai that dragged the name of Governor Rao led to the deferment. Operative excerpts and relevant controversial gaps in the narrative:

Controversial part 

Doctors of Apollo hospital who treated former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa held a press conference in Chennai to dispel rumours surrounding her death.

Questioned whether Tamil Nadu Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao met Jayalalithaa in the hospital, Tamil Nadu government doctor P Balaji said the Governor met her during his second visit.

“Jayalalithaa showed him a ‘thumbs up’ sign,” Balaji said.

Dr Richard Beale, a London-based doctor who closely monitored Jayalalithaa's case, assured that there was no conspiracy behind her death.

When asked why the world was made to believe that she was improving despite she was critically ill, the doctors answered, “This is a policy related question, and we are doctors, so we cannot answer that. After she was put on the ventilator, she wasn’t able to communicate with the officials.”

Emphasis supplied.

During the first visit of the Governor, Rao did not meet Jaya, the above paragraphs suggest.

Operative portions of another press report suggest a different tale.

On September 27 2016, officials – including currently disgraced ex-Chief Secretary Ram Mohan Rao, secretaries to the late CM Venkataramanan and Ramalingam – believed to be close to outgoing CM O Panneerselvam [OPS] – had met Jaya, claimed an official press release. The matter was reported by one of Chennai’s young, bright journalists – Julie Mariappan of the Times of India. The two secretaries and their senior Sheela Balakrishnan were said to have been forced to leave their posts on the eve of Sasikala being elected as legislature party leader.

The question to be asked is, whether the hospital is in possession of any report about the treatment that suggest the necessity of Jayalalithaa being put on a ventilator between September 27 2016 and October 2 2016.

The report is not clear about the date on which Jayalalithaa was placed on ventilator.

The relevant portions of the press report dated October 2 2016:

Tamil Nadu Governor Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao on Saturday visited ailing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa at a hospital in Chennai and was happy to note she was “recovering well”.

Rao visited the chief minister in the ward where she is being given treatment and stated he was “thankful” to the doctors who took him there and for explaining in detail the treatment given to her. He presented a basket of fruits and wished Jayalalithaa a speedy recovery.

Upon his visit to the Apollo Hospitals where he stayed for about 30 minutes, Rao was briefed by its Chairman Pratap C Reddy on the treatment being given to Jayalalithaa, a Raj Bhavan release said.

 Controversial part:

Press reports citing statements issued by the state Governor’s office did not mention a personal meeting between Rao and Jayalalithaa during his second visit.

Operative excerpts from a report published in The Times of India dated October 22 2016, with the by-line of Julie Mariappan:

Governor C Vidyasagar Rao  visited Apollo Hospitals, where chief minister J Jayalalithaa is undergoing treatment. This is his second visit to the hospital, ever since the chief minister was admitted on September 22.

“The Governor visited the CM in the ward where she is undergoing treatment. The governor was happy to note that the CM is progressing well,” a Raj Bhavan statement said, after Rao's visit.

Apollo Hospitals chairman Pratap C Reddy briefed the governor in detail about the treatment being given to the CM. Jayalalithaa is being treated by a team of experts consisting of doctors from critical care group of the hospitals, senior cardiologist, senior respiratory physician, senior consultant, infectious diseases, endocrinologist, diabetologist and dieticians.

“The chairman, Apollo hospitals apprised the governor that the CM continues to be under treatment and observation for all vital parameters, respiratory support and passive physiotherapy. The CM is interacting and responding remarkably to the treatment,” the statement said.

Emphasis supplied

Controversial part

Patients on ventilator support can indeed communicate with others.

Jayalalithaa’s personal friend and senior journalist Cho S Ramaswamy was admitted to the same hospital. Despite being on ventilator support, he communicated with many guests by scribbling on a note pad.

Senior journalists in Chennai witnessed such events.

There is no talk about Jayalalithaa having suffered from a paralytic stroke.

Hence, she could have scribbled her interactions with the Governor. There are no indications of such an event.

Controversial part

On the matter of photographing Jayalalithaa when she was critically ill, Dr Beale said, “Images of critically ill patients are not taken. I don’t understand why reasonable people would expect that such an act should be committed,” Dr Beale said.

Jayalalithaa visited Cho S Ramaswamy in Apollo Hospital when he was critically ill.

Operative excerpts from a report in The News Minute:

With journalist and political commentator Cho Ramaswamy passing away less than a day after his friend, former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, was laid to rest near MGR Memorial, an old video of the two of them has resurfaced.

The video showed Jayalalithaa visiting Cho in the hospital and assuring him that he would be back on his feet soon. “It’s always a pleasure to see you,” said Jayalalithaa as Cho apologised for putting her into the trouble of visiting him. She was heard telling him that the doctors were optimistic that he would make a recovery. 

Jayalalithaa's cheery demeanour and the warmth were apparent during their conversation.

At the time the video was shot, there were rumours that Jayalalithaa was seriously ill. The visit dispelled such ideas. 

Cho and Jayalalithaa knew each other for about sixty years. 

Images were beamed on television.

Dr Beale, Dr Balaji and Dr B. Abraham, who claimed to be in the know of the treatment accorded to Jayalalithaa, have uttered sentences that are not exactly adding up in logical terms.

The truth is yet to be established.

Also read:

https://haritsv.wordpress.com/2017/02/05/has-sasikala-i

https://haritsv.wordpress.com/2017/01/31/tamil-nadu-politics-whodunnit

http://southernfeaturesnewsservice.blogspot.in/2017/01/end-of-jallikkattu-drama-marks-start-of.html

RM/M/KMT/TSV

SFNS is a news service with a difference. News is narrated succinctly and in detail - for the reader to understand - every event it its complete perspective.

For further info, contact: haritsv@hotmail.com

Indian Banking Sector’s Criminal Underbelly

From Vakratund Varma, New Delhi, TSV Hari, Chennai

[1802 words, 20 minutes’ reading]

New Delhi [SFNS]: Despite an unprecedented overflow of funds after the demonetisation exercise, India’s public sector banks continue to be mired in criminal controversies and pretend being cash strapped. The needy do not get funds and the robbers seem to be having plenty of it.

“The manifestation of India’s economic malaise is visible through the recent brazen statements of fugitive scofflaws like Vijay Mallya on the one hand and lying criminal lawyers like P Chidambaram who even committed high treason. Its worst aspect is that high street top nationalised banks like Indian Bank, Corporation Bank, Andhra Bank – to name just 3 are the salient and stinking part of the rottenness. The criminal hydra head of Indian financial system’s rottenness is clearly visible. TM Bhasin, currently Vigilance Commissioner controlling the banking sector is being guided by evil forces beyond the borders. It includes international terrorist Dawood Ibrahim. The likes of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley are the Godfathers of this abomination of banking,” opined a Chennai-based retired senior banker.

“Though accused of serious wrongdoing, criminals like Mallya continue to cock a snook at Indian authorities. Worse, the brazen flaunting of nonexistent victim card is accorded wide publicity by the media,” the source pointed out.

“The fig-leaf arrest of former CMD of IDBI – Yogesh Aggarwal is a clear pointer that stables are being locked after the horses have bolted,” a serving senior banker located in India’s national capital region opined on condition of anonymity.

Aggarwal was arrested in January this year by the Central Bureau of Investigation. It was in connection with its probe into Vijay Mallya loan default case, according to news reports.

Three more former executives of IDBI Bank and 4 executives of Kingfisher Airlines have also been arrested by the investigating agency A team of CBI officials visited the offices of the Vijay Mallya led UB Group.

Mallya is facing the process of recovery of Rs 6,203 crores – he had borrowed from banks to keep his Kingfisher Airline afloat – successfully burrowing into the innards of the Indian financial system. Since his flight to London, courts have declared him a proclaimed offender.

Mallya is accused of cleverly manipulating social media outlets’ loopholes.

Two tweets by Mallya exemplify this:

Am shocked at CBI allegations. All false and misconceived to say the least What do a bunch of elite Police [sic] know about business and Economics?

Media happily being used as the pitch. I am the football. Two fiercely competitive teams NDA versus UPA playing. Unfortunately no Referees [sic].

National Democratic Alliance [NDA] media managers have charged Dr Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram former Prime Minister and Finance Minister respectively with glibly defending Mallya. Reportedly perfidious and conspiratorial correspondence pointing to a nexus between Mallya and the duo is being cited as alleged evidence of wrongdoing.

Singh and Chidambaram have stoutly denied these.

“All prime ministers receive representations from various captains of industry that are passed on to appropriate authority. This is what I have done and done with full satisfaction. The deed was not against the law of the land,” Manmohan Singh had been quoted as saying in a media report.

Chidambaram dismissed the whole thing as a ‘routine affair.’

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala rubbed salt into the BJP wounds.

“The Congress wants to know who permitted Mallya to escape and who waived loans [given] to him. It was the BJP that had brought Mallya into the Rajya Sabha [India’s upper house],” Surjewala observed.

The head honchos of top nationalised banking institutions like Indian Bank^[1], Corporation Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Vijaya Bank, Canara Bank^[2] and Andhra Bank ^[3] – are being seriously probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation. If meaningful action is ever taken, the seamy underbelly to a governmental sector that ought to be functioning beyond reproach would stand exposed in pristine grotesqueness.

The probes are not making much headway because of one man – TM Bhasin, currently Central Vigilance Commission’s decision maker number 3. Before the current job, Bhasin had headed the public sector Indian Bank. The tenure had seen activity termed as being of utmost criminal nature. ^[4].

[1]

PR operators based in Chennai commandeered by its reported ringleader and former employee of Indian Bank and Corporation Bank – Prime Point Srinivasan. He is said to be aided and abetted by TS Raghavan, another former head of Indian Bank and Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati.

While the latter was acquitted from the notorious Shankararaman murder case – not so honourably the former is  an accused in multiple criminal cases, was arrested and is currently on bail.

Cases include alleged cheating thousands of investors who had believed in the tall tales mouthed by the promoters of Vishwapriya Finance, a company that had employed Raghavan as a director.

Vishwapriya founders also face other criminal cases by other public sector banks which includes Bank of Baroda.

Branches of Corporation Bank located close to CBI headquarters are said to be involved in money-laundering locally and abroad, according to informed sources. A gang of middlemen auditors and film industry “Chettiars” are the ringleaders – who use accounts with credibility to change the colours of shady money. “Petitions have been sent to the CBI’s regional offices with clinching evidence, but, they are sitting on it, doing nothing,” a top banking source said. 

[2]

Operative portions from a report in The Hindu:

A branch of Canara Bank in south Mumbai reportedly played a vital role in laundering Rs. 340 crores through jewellery exports, reads a charge-sheet filed by Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI]. Sources in the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence [DRI] alleged worse.

“We suspect that a circuit of jewellers and diamond merchants have connived with bank officials to carry out this forgery, with officials allowing submission of forged bills of entry into IceGate, the e-payment gateway,” said sources in the DRI.

The charges have been partly denied by A.K. Das, general manager, Canara Bank, Mumbai.

“We have no reported cases in Mumbai of this nature. The bank is doing its due diligence in checking mechanisms for such incidents,” he told the highly respected daily newspaper – The Hindu.

Suveer Khanna, a partner at KPMG was careful with his words. “Public sector banks are speeding their monitoring mechanisms. While banking regulations are in place to prevent such frauds, the onus is also on the banks to take responsibility for building stronger monitoring mechanisms.”

The DRI is said to have finished its probe and is in the process of submitting a report to the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate.

[3]

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has begun a probe into the suspected corporate fraud involving bank loans of over Rs 3,000 crore after three banks – Andhra Bank, Canara Bank and UCO Bank cried foul. The banks have declared the loan accounts of three group companies promoted by Praveen Kumar Tayal as fraud following an alleged diversion of funds to the group’s privately-held ventures, especially in real estate.

The three companies of the group that are under the CBI scanner are Krishna Knitwear Technology Ltd, Jayabharat Textile and Real Estate Ltd, and Eskay Knit (India).

A senior official from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) confirmed to DNA that the regulator is in receipt of the complaint of fraud from Andhra bank, which is leading the consortium of 14 banks who have exposure to Krishna Knitwear Technology Ltd.

Andhra Bank has now handed over the Krishna Knitwear Technology case to the CBI to investigate the diversion of funds. The company, which specialises in knitted fabrics and spinning of cotton had borrowed Rs 616 crore of working capital and term loans of Rs 200 crore.

Praveen Kumar Tayal did not return calls nor respond to text messages enquiring about the fate of his companies or the alleged diversion of funds.

Surprisingly about two years back, banks had pushed for a corporate debt restructuring (CDR) for all the three companies, in the hope of reviving the companies and getting them to start servicing the debt. But in September last year, all the three companies exited the CDR cell as many banks opposed to the special dispensation given to the case where the promoter, according to bankers, did not seem committed to reviving his company.

A senior Andhra Bank official told DNA, “We suspect Rs 800 crore of bank loans in Krishna Knitwear, where we are the lead bankers, were allegedly diverted to unlisted companies.” Other banks suspect that the group’s arm Reward Real Estate was a recipient of promoter’s largesse.

Another bank official who is also party to the consortium said the companies have diverted large sums from the listed entity to a closely-held real estate arm of the group or to other ventures. “We tried our best to undertake a forensic audit but the company was not co-operating. So we had to hand over the case to the CBI.”

A senior Bank of India official also confirmed that CBI is investigating the accounts of the bank and said the CBI had asked the bank to submit certain documents pertaining to the loans given to the group.

The Tayals are in real estate, textiles and fibres and were the erstwhile owners of Bank of Rajasthan (BoR), until ICICI Bank took it over.

In 2010, the Tayal group was in news following which the RBI forced the merger of BoR with ICICI Bank. Market regulator, Securities and exchange board of India had found that Tayals fraudulently raised their stake in BoR through a series of off-market transactions.

Apart from the three companies now embroiled in the controversy, Praveen Kumar also runs other companies – Ksl and Industries Ltd, Krishna Lifestyle Technologies, Asahi Industries and Single Point Security Solutions.

[4]

Bhasin is occupying his post with the brazenness of a hardened criminal.

Bhasin took charge as the VC on June 11 2015.

The earlier CVC had recommended that Regular Departmental Action should be initiated against Bhasin.

The Supreme Court is seized of the matter against Bhasin since July 2015.

Excerpts from averments in public interest litigation [PIL] matter being heard in the Apex Court against Bhasin:

Bhasin was indicted in a detailed inquiry by the Central Vigilance Commission in 2013 for forging and tampering with appraisal report of Malay Mukherjee – a former General Manager of Indian Bank. Mukherjee currently heads IFCI.  

Former Union Minister and currently a senior member of the ruling party Dr Subramanian Swamy had written a strongly worded letter to the Prime Minister on 11.06.2015 stating that charge against Respondent No. 3 (Bhasin) is “very serious” and the recommendation of the selection committee to appoint Respondent No. 3 as VC must be withdrawn. He said “finding of moral turpitude by CVC of Bhasin makes him unfit to keep the position of Vigilance Commissioner.”

The Central Vigilance Commission recommended action against current CMD of Indian Bank – TM Bhasin as early as August 2013 asking the Union Finance Ministry to comply.

Bhasin had allegedly collaborated with the nation’s enemy Dawood Ibrahim to ruin Bank of Baroda and thus destroy the Indian financial system.

Bhasin’s target was reputed banker SS Mundra, currently a deputy governor in the Reserve Bank of India [RBI]. Bhasin wanted the post and reportedly managed to keep Mundra waiting for several months. Mundra’s elevation to RBI became possible after Dr Kamalesh Chandra Chakrabarty – another ex-Indian Bank head quit his RBI post 3 months ahead of schedule. Chakrabarty has an impeccable record as a banker. He had spent most of his years in Bank of Baroda. Chakrabarty’s opinion about Bhasin can be summed up in just two words “sheer contempt”. The contempt stemmed from one act- the so-called inauguration of Indian Bank HQ – adjacent to the ruling AIADMK’s HQ in Chennai. Bhasin had himself participated in its earlier “inaugurations” twice! Worse, he managed to invite Pranab Mukherjee [then yet to be elevated to the nation’s highest office] to do the honours. It was a ruse to allegedly splurge a sum in excess of Rs.3 crores – sans any justification – for a function that lasted less than an hour! The worst side of it is that Bhasin reportedly went around claiming to have bank-rolled Mukherjee’s elevation to the office of President! And there were, wags in Chennai add, enough fools to believe this kind of tripe!

The evidence against Bhasin has been piling since 2011!