CBI asks public sector banks to act timely on sanction requests in fraud cases
IT comes in the wake of a Delhi court discharging all the accused persons in a high-profile bank fraud case because several public sector banks refused to grant sanction against their 40 officers
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday asked the public sector banks (PSBs) and ministry of finance officers to act timely on its requests for sanction under Section 17A (for conducting investigation) and Section 19 (for filing charge sheets) under the Prevention of Corruption Act, which are key to completing probes and trial in bank frauds, people familiar with the development said.
The matter was discussed with the officers of department of financial services (DFS) and chief vigilance officers (CVOs) of public sector banks (PSBs) in a meeting in Bengaluru, in which other ways to expedite investigations in bank frauds being investigated by it.
The meeting assumes significance in the wake of a Delhi court recently discharging all the accused persons in a high-profile bank fraud case because several public sector banks refused to grant sanction against their 40 officers.
The federal anti-corruption agency is investigating hundreds of bank fraud cases involving amounts totalling in a few lakh crores, according to an official, the meeting was important to discuss hurdles in prosecution sanction requests, delay in filing complaints, involvement of bank officers etc.
“During the day-long meeting, all pending matters pertaining to ongoing investigation and prosecution of the bank fraud cases being handled by CBI were discussed and several issues sorted out,” a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.
This, the spokesperson said, was a follow up meeting after a high-level meeting was held on January 30 this year.
The agenda was to enhance the interdepartmental cooperation and expedite investigations pertaining to bank fraud cases.
On Tuesday, “detailed presentations were made by CBI and PSBs on relevant operational issues. Many aspects were discussed and resolved”, the spokesperson said.
“A close coordination between the banks and CBI in terms of timely sharing of relied-upon documents was acknowledged. Further efforts to streamline procedures and ensure proactive cooperation in matters related to obtaining approvals/sanctions under Section 17A and Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act were also emphasised,” said the spokesperson.
Apart from overall strategy to expedite bank fraud probes, CBI and PSBs also exchanged case-specific details and deliberated on the way forward to expedite pending investigations.
“The meeting concluded with a consensus to maintain the current momentum of cooperation between CBI and PSBs. Emphasis was laid on continuing structured engagement and institutional collaboration to overcome procedural bottlenecks, expedite investigations, resolve pending issues, and ensure timely completion of investigations,” the spokesperson said.
Some of the important bank fraud cases being investigated by CBI are against - businessmen - Nirav Modi,Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi and Jatin Mehta, former ICICI Bank managing director Chanda Kochhar, Rishi Agrawal of ABG Shipyard Ltd, Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan of Dewan Housing and Finance Ltd (DHFL), Rana Kapoor (Yes Bank founder) and Sanjay Singal of Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd.
Between 2018 and 2020 alone, CBI registered cases in bank frauds involving in excess of ₹1 lakh crore. In 2020, it filed over 200 cases, involving bank frauds of ₹70,000 crore, the highest ever in a year. In 2024, it registered 95 cases involving amounts worth over ₹8,000 crore.
