The Kashmir Monitor Exclusive Crucial Board meeting today; bad loans set to double Govt. finally wakes up, asks JK Bank to come clean on NPA?s Shameem Meraj Srinagar: The state government seems to have finally woken up to the serious crisis that?s brewing in J&K Bank. Alarmed by the news reports that have appeared in media including this newspaper, the Finance Department has formally written to J&K Bank Chairman Mushtaq Ahmad, conveying the government?s ?displeasure? on the sorry state of affairs in the Bank. Sources say that Finance Secretary BB Vyas who is also the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister has shot off a letter to Mushtaq Ahmad asking him to come clean on the status of the Non-Performing Assets (NPAs). The government is also looking into allegation that some of the Directors of the bank are also closely associated with firms which are auditing the bank. Sources told the Kashmir Monitor that on behalf of the state government the same letter was dispatched to the corporate office of the Bank late Tuesday evening. The letter has been sent hours before the Board meeting of the Bank that is scheduled to be held on Wednesday. Sources told Kashmir Monitor that the state government which owns 53% of J&K Bank was alarmed at the way Bank was conducting its operations. The state government, highly placed sources said, was mulling another probe into the operations of the state owned Bank. Wednesday?s Board meeting of the J&K Bank is expected to be a stormy one with the state government finally exerting its influence on the health of the Bank. Sources confirmed to Kashmir Monitor that state government had decided to flex its muscles and would not watch from the sidelines anymore. ?We own the Bank and we can?t watch on as the Bank loses prestige. Time has come for us to intervene for the betterment of the Bank?, said a top government official who is closely monitoring the developments on behalf of the Government. Sources also said that the auditors of the Bank including the high flying one have been privately cautioned by the state government not to succumb to any pressure with regard to NPAs. Unconfirmed reports say that few auditors were pulled up by the state government late Monday night about the status of some accounts including REI Agro and HDIL. Reports say that auditors have been clearly told by the government to stick by the rule book and report any malafide to the owner of the Bank. ?We have conveyed to the auditors that they must declare all NPAs, whether big or small. Not following the rule book or succumbing to pressure will be treated nothing less than criminal intent?, said another top government official. Since May this year the J&K Bank has been rocked by a series of news reports that have revealed how the Bank management was trying to cover up the status of NPAs and thousands of crores had been given out as loans especially outside the state without due diligence. The wrong doings of the Bank have already been reported to RBI and CBI while a secret government probe has already indicted two top officers Abdul Hamid Bandey and Ashraf Ali for their involvement in the NPA mess. Auditors resist pressure Srinagar: The auditors of J&K Bank on Tuesday resisted massive pressure from few Directors of the Bank who did not want some big accounts to be declared as non performing assets or NPAs, sources say. Well informed sources said that auditors of the bank as well as some professional directors are resisting enormous pressure regarding a mumbai based realty firms status. The director who is close to this firm is reportedly pressurising the auditors to treat the account as standard on the premise that he will get the account regularised in the near future. However auditors are still firm on their assessment as their careers and reputation is at stake.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 04:41:14 +0000
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