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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Make default list public: SC

Make default list public: SC

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published Published on Oct 25, 2016   modified Modified on Oct 25, 2016
-The Telegraph/ PTI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today asked the Centre and the RBI to disclose the names of borrowers who had each defaulted on public-sector bank loans of Rs 500 crore and above but the apex bank raised objections.

The top court, after going through the defaulters' list submitted by the RBI in a sealed cover on March 29, said 57 people had defaulted on loans worth Rs 85,000 crore and questioned why their names should not be made public.

Solicitor-general Ranjit Kumar and the RBI counsel submitted that rules did not permit disclosure of names held in a fiduciary relationship. But the bench headed by Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur was not impressed.

"Who are these people who have borrowed money and are not paying back? Why this fact that the person has borrowed money and not paying back be not known to public?" the court asked.

"The amount payable should be known to the public. Why should you withhold the information.... How does it affect you?"

The bench, also comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and L. Nageswara Rao, then sought to know who had said that the RBI could not disclose details.

The RBI counsel said the banking regulator had decentralised its role and a "blanket disclosure" of the defaulters' names was barred under the RBI Act and Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act of 2005.

All are not wilful defaulters, he pointed out. The central bank is working in the interest of banks and defaulters' names cannot be disclosed under the rules, he pleaded.

To this, the bench said: "You (RBI) must work in the interest of the country, not just in the interest of banks."

Solicitor-general Kumar told the bench the Centre had set up a five-member committee to examine the allegations of default by individuals and companies. He sought adjournment of the case by four weeks to enable the committee to submit its report.

The court is dealing with a 2003 PIL filed by the Centre for Public Interest and Litigation (CPIL), which had alleged that state-owned Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) had written off debts worth Rs 40,000 crore.

Counsel Prashant Bhushan, appearing for CPIL, opposed Kumar's request for a month's adjournment.

He said the so-called committee comprised top executives of PSU banks whose officers were guilty of disbursing loans in violation of the rules.

He suggested that former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan be appointed as head of a committee that would probe the allegations. But the court said Rajan had helmed the RBI for four years, during which time there had been accusations of inaction.

"We will make it clear that disclosure of the names does not mean they are wilful defaulters. Whether or not they are defaulters, we will deal with it at the next date of hearing," the bench said. The next hearing is on Friday.

The Telegraph, 25 October, 2016, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1161025/jsp/nation/story_115495.jsp#.WA-JBvT3_N5


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