Khalap
facing arrest
Sandesh Prabhudesai
4 June 2003
Ramakant Khalap, the former union law minister, is facing
arrest in a a multi-crore scam of a co-operative bank he was
heading.
While disposing his bail application, the court here has
told police to inform Khalap 72 hours in advance before his
arrest.
The silver-haired veteran politician of Goa, presently with
the Congress, has been implicated in a multi-crore bank scam
of the Mapusa Urban Co-operative Bank, which he was heading
till last year.
Khalap however has however dubbed it is a political conspiracy
of the ruling BJP government to tarnish his clean public image
in view of the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.
The police complaint, filed by the MUCB recovery officer
Mohandas Ramdas, alleges of a criminal conspiracy and cheating
the bank to the tune of Rs 4.7 crore.
This is the second complaint Khalap is facing. The earlier
one had alleged that Khalap had granted loans to the Congress
legislature by leasing out the same property twice.
According to this complaint, Khalap transfer fixed deposit
receipts of the NRIs to the Gujarat-based Vikas Co-operative
Bank Ltd for higher rate of interest, without seeking the
depositers' permission or taking them into confidence.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India cancelled licence of
the VCBL and the bank was locked, with depositors losing their
fixed deposits.
Besides Khalap, the crime branch of Goa police have also
filed complaint against the then MUCB general manager A P
Punmage, the then MD of the VCBL P M Shah, senior manger of
the Indian Bank (Navrangpura branch) H V Shah and N M Kukadia,
chairman of the Varachch Co-operative Bank, Surat.
The case has been registered under sections 409, 420, 120-B
read with 34 of IPC.
Fearing arrest, Khalap had immediately rushed to the court
seeking bail. The court has disposed the matter, on a condition
that the lawyer-turned politician be informed 72 hours in
advance before his arrest.
He has however denied all the charges, while expressing deep
faith in the judiciary.
After defecting twice during his last tenure, the ruling
BJP had denied him ticket in the Assembly polls. He had then
one again joined back the Congress and had lost elections.
Khalap was the union law minister in the Deve Gowda and I
K Gujral governments, which did not last for long. He has
been the state opposition leader as well as the deputy chief
minister earlier, during his three-decade long political career.
Your
Comments Please
