Taking note of a writ petition filed against Delhi State Co-operative Bank in the High Court, Acting Chief Justice Navin Chawala has asked the Registrar of Co-op Societies to expedite the pending inquiries against Delhi State Co-operative Bank without any delay.
A writ petition in Public Interest, filed in the Delhi High Court by a journalist Amit Lal has alleged serious malpractices in the management of Delhi State Co-operative Bank. The petitioner has placed on record a copy of an order passed by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies directing the conduct of an inquiry/ inspection under Section 61 of the Delhi Cooperative Societies Act.
The Hon High Court has said in its order “We find this position to be completely unacceptable. We direct respondents to expedite the conclusion of the pending inquiries/ inspections without any delay. The respondents are directed to file their respective counter-affidavits within 3 weeks. The status of the pending inquiries/ inspections should also be disclosed by the respondents. Let notice be issued to respondents not represented today, returnable on 27.05.2022”, read the order issued by the acting Chief Justice Shri Navin Chawala.
Among other things, the matter relates to siphoning off of the fund of Satvir Khatri’s accounts to the tune of Rs 20 lac in May 2016. “Since there were no SMS or debit card facilities, I came to know of the fraud only after 4 months when I visited the bank”, said Khatri to Indian Cooperative.
Himself a branch manager in the same bank, who retired after putting in more than 30 years of service in 2005, Satvir accuses five bank officials including MD Anita Rawat of being hand in glove with the scamsters.
“No one entertained us, though we approached everyone from RoC to Nabard to Kejriwal to LG and it was only after the intervention of the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Mrs. Divya Malhotra that the police has lodged an FIR against five bank employees including MD Mrs. Anita Rawat”, said Khatri showing all the papers he carried all these four years.
The Metropolitan Magistrate asked the police to lodge an FIR on 16th March and it was only on 27th March
Satvir claims that the thugs of Delhi State Co-op Bank have siphoned off more than Rs 2 crore from the accounts of about eight gullible account holders.
Amit Lal, the petitioner whose PIL was heard in the High Court after five attempts flagged the cases of these victims, said Satvir.
Delhi State Co-op Bank in its reply said “a factual inquiry into the affairs of the bank was conducted by the Addl. Registrar, Office of the Registrar Cooperative Society, and the report submitted to the Hon’ble LG, Delhi for decision.
The Hon’ble LG has directed the Directorate of Vigilance, GNCTD Delhi to inquire into the matter and make a decision. The office of the Registrar, as per the directions of the Hon’ble LG had forwarded the matter to the Directorate of Vigilance, Govt. of NCT of Delhi for further action as per the order of the Hon’ble LG, Delhi.”
It bears recall that high profile co-operator Bijender Singh is the Chairman of the Delhi State Co-operative Bank.