The BJP on Thursday demanded a CBI probe into the parking of money of the Jagannath Temple in Puri with cash-starved Yes Bank. Odisha finance minister Niranjan Pujari said the funds had been deposited as the bank offered the highest rate of interest among all the scheduled commercial banks.
Replying to an adjournment motion moved by opposition members in connection with the issue of parking of funds of the 11th century temple, Pujari said the Jagannath Temple administration in March 2019 had invited quotations from 12 scheduled commercial banks for depositing its money. Of all the banks who had bid, Yes Bank had offered 8.61 per cent interest per annum, he said.
A total amount of ₹592 crore was kept in Yes Bank of which ₹545 crore was fixed as term deposit for a year. The remaining ₹47 crore was kept in a flexi account. The finance minister said Yes Bank was one out of the recommended list for 2019-20 of the 29 banks selected by a committee chaired by the state finance department which had representatives from the RBI and State Level Banker’s Committee. The committee had met twice and had drawn up the list after taking into consideration various parameters.
“Yes Bank is a listed bank under the schedule II of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, and under Section 35 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, functioning of all banks are supervised by RBI. There was no directive from the RBI against undertaking financial transactions with Yes Bank before March 5, 2020,” the Odisha finance minister clarified.
{{/usCountry}}“Yes Bank is a listed bank under the schedule II of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, and under Section 35 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, functioning of all banks are supervised by RBI. There was no directive from the RBI against undertaking financial transactions with Yes Bank before March 5, 2020,” the Odisha finance minister clarified.
{{/usCountry}}He also added that it was the temple administration which had deposited the amount as it is the sole authority for management of financial affairs of the 11th century shrine.
On the other hand, Opposition chief whip and senior BJP leader Mohan Majhi demanded the parking of the temple funds in Yes Bank be brought under the purview of an ongoing CBI probe. However, BJP chief whip Mohan Majhi said that the state government was playing with the sentiments of the devotees of Lord Jagannath. He alleged that chartered accountant Bijay Sahoo, a member of the temple managing committee and former chief administrator of the temple, Pradipta Mohapatra had gone on vacation in Europe with Yes Bank’s commission money.
Majhi alleged that Madhav Mohapatra, a member of the temple management finance sub-committee was removed from the temple managing committee when he raised his voice against the parking of temple funds in Yes Bank. The state government should form a House Committee to get back Lord Jagannath’s money, he added.
Union minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises Pratap Chandra Sarangi too wrote to the union finance minister seeking a probe to fix responsibility of the state government officers responsible for parking of the temple funds. “The money was deposited in a private bank in flagrant violation of the guidelines to keep the temple money in nationalised banks. The move to keep the money smells of some conspiracy on the part of some officers to serve their pecuniary interests in connivance with the authorities of Yes Bank,” wrote Sarangi.
Meanwhile, four Rajya Sabha MPs of Biju Janata Dal led by MP Prasanna Acharya on Thursday met union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the second time urging her intervention in releasing the temple funds stuck in Yes Bank. The finance minister assured the BJD MPs that she had spoken to the RBI Governor on their request for ensuring safety of the temple funds.