Hearing in NDCC case completed, final verdict soon

LOKMAT NEWS NETWORK

Nashik, Jan 3

The hearing on the much-discussed case for distribution of an irregular loan of Rs 347 crore by the Nashik District Central Co-operative (NDCC) Bank was completed on Tuesday, January 2, before the Co-operation Minister Dilip Walse Patil. Now the attention is focussed on the final result. Although the directors of the bank have filed separate petitions, the Co-operation Minister decided to combine all the petitions and conduct the hearing together. The final verdict is expected to be out in three to four days. The Inquiry Committee was formed to take action against 21 directors and some employees and officers, a total of 44 persons, as the bank got into trouble in the matter of loan disbursement. Authorised Investigation Officer Gautam Balsane submitted his report to the Co-operation Minister.

The three-month deadline given by the High Court to take a final decision on Article 88 is about to expire. Due to this, the hearing of this case was speeded up. Bank administration, inquiry officer, and directors presented their side. An argument went on with Dilip Walse Patil for almost an hour. Investigating Officer Balsane said that he had investigated how the bank went into loss, and how the loan was disbursed and the report was submitted to the Co-operation Minister. On the day of the hearing, our lawyers said exactly what the report said, informed Balsane.

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During the hearing, MLA Manikrao Kokate, MLA Dilip Bankar, Devidas Pingle, Anil Aher, Shirish Kotwal, Apurva Hiray, Rajendra Bhosale, Shobha Bachhav were present along with lawyers.

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Investigating officer Gautam Balsane argued that the then directors distributed illegal loans. Even after fixing the responsibility on the bank and directors for recovery, the loan was not recovered. When such things happen, it is time to suspend the license of the bank. The bank's lawyers said that the loan recovery process is underway. To which the director argued that they had legally allocated the loan and 60 to 70 percent of loans given to cooperative societies have been recovered. Therefore, the legal action against them is wrong and the result should be in their favour.

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The investigating officer said that the dues of Rs 182 crores have been fixed on the then directors, officers, and employees in the case of illegal loan disbursement. During the hearing, the Co-operation Minister also reviewed how loan recovery is being done by the bank.