Kochi, June 5 With several cooperative banks in the state going bust in the past few years and with numerous cases getting registered, the Kerala High Court on Thursday expressed deep concern over the plight of the hapless depositors and also flagged the role of political parties.
Justice Devan Ramachandran, whose bench hears matters related to co-operative societies, observed that people who use such institutions in Kerala often do not get their money back.
"Kerala is the No. 1 in the world in this. You (the co-operative bank) will not return the money. People like you (creditors) who go and deposit money and other instruments in co-operative societies stand to lose money. There is no doubt about it," he said.
"Even today, people are going and depositing in co-operative societies. That is one of their ways of showing their allegiance to their political party. As long as this continues, nothing can happen. No court can help you, nothing can come to your aid when this is how the system functions. You lose your money," he orally remarked.
Justice Ramachandran then compared these co-operative banks to "blade companies", a colloquial reference in Kerala for moneylenders.
"I am concerned about what is happening in my state. I am in love with this state, and I can see where this is going. It is easy for us judges to dispose of these matters just saying there is an alternate remedy. But I am not doing it because I can see the plight of the ordinary people who are in front of me. And there is absolutely no support from the stakeholders for the high court. If a judge writes a judgment in favour of a common man, the attack is that the judge has some other political affiliation," Justice Ramachandran orally remarked.
He added that had Kerala been a true welfare state, the state government would have stepped in to aid those who had lost money to co-operative banks. "The fact is that you (the co-operative bank) have squandered the hard-earned money that people gave. A welfare state should have stepped in. This is the life of ordinary people. Why is it that the authorities have no heart at all?" he said.
The court made these observations while considering a review petition moved by the Chandanapally Service Cooperative Bank against an order directing it to return proceeds of the fixed deposit of Rosamma Rajan.
The bank blamed the government and its agencies for not recovering money for them, fixed against its earlier Secretary, who allegedly misappropriated large sums.
"Common man has no support in this State. You (petitioner) unfortunately have the common man tag. Find yourself a political affiliation, maybe then you will get your money. How many people in Kerala are suffering because they can’t get their fixed deposits back? We are powerless now," added the judge.
These observation comes close on the heels of the Enforcement Directorate filing its final charge sheet recently in the alleged scam that took place at the Thrissur-based Karuvannur Cooperative Bank, with the list of accused including the CPI-M, its Lok Sabha member K.Radhakrishnan, legislator A.C. Moideen, and numerous other leaders from the district.
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