The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and central bureau of investigation (CBI) on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dr Subramanian Swamy’s plea seeking a probe by CBI into the alleged role of nominee directors in bank loan fraud cases.
Dr Swamy contended, “Despite playing a key role in the allocation of funds to various projects, RBI nominees have not been touched by CBI enquiries from 2000 till today.”
Dr Swamy submitted that they are nominee directors and not ordinary persons. He added that the person is an appointee of RBI and heads a committee on the risk element, and it is clear that he is a full-fledged member of the board of directors.
He said not investigating RBI officials in the same manner as other directors is a violation of Article 14. As the bench asked: “What is the stage of investigation with regard to other directors?” Dr Swamy says that in the past 10 years, none of them has come to a conclusion.
“We will consider. Issue notice,” the bench says.
According to the public interest litigation (PIL), the number and value of banking frauds detected by RBI and other agencies during the past couple of years showed that, despite enjoying wide powers, the banking regulator failed to protect the interests of various stakeholders, including…
