ABG scam: SBI refuses to give details of its officers ‘involved’

New Delhi: India’s largest public bank, the State Bank of India (SBI), which is in the eye of a storm due to the Rs 22,000 crore ABG Shipyard scam, has refused to share the names of the officials and the action, if any, taken against these officers, who were found to be involved in the scam.
The Sunday Guardian had filed a Right to Information (RTI) query with the SBI, whose around 60% share is held by the Government of India, seeking details of “staff accountability” that was executed in response to the ABG scam as is required by banks to do in such matters. In its response the SBI, stated that it cannot share the sought information citing the protection available to it under section Section 8 (1) (e) and (j) of the RTI Act that bars sharing of information unless it is in the larger public interest. Section J states that information should not be shared if it would “cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual”.
Interestingly, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was told by the SBI in August 2020 that it does not suspect the involvement of any of its employees in the scam. This was communicated to the CBI by SBI when the former asked the bank that while the investigation was still in progress, why had the SBI stated that it does not suspect the involvement of any public servant? To this, the SBI had responded that “the staff accountability has been dealt with and closed by the competent authority in November 2018”, thereby giving a contradictory response, as, on the one hand, it stated that it does not suspect the involvement of any of its employees and, on the other hand, stating that it had “dealt with” the issue.
To put it more simply, the employees of the SBI “dealt” with those SBI officials allegedly involved in the scam at their own level and the matter was closed; hence, the CBI should not investigate if any insider was involved in the scam or not.
As per rules, among the board of directors of SBI, there has also to be an IAS officer who is deputed to by the government of India to safeguard its interest and the interest of the public in large. On 16 February, just days after a FIR was filed in the case, the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance nominated Financial Services Secretary Sanjay Malhotra, a 1990 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS officer as a director on SBI’s board. As per the CBI’s FIR, the scam was perpetrated over a period of 5 years from 2012-2017, the FIR in which was registered in February 2022. During this five-year tenure, the SBI saw three chairpersons—Pratip Chaudhari, Arundhatti Bhattacharya and Rajnish Kumar.
In the Punjab National Bank Rs 12000 crore scam involving fraudster Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, the SBI had named seven employees for helping the scamsters carry out the scam that went on for seven years. As per the CBI, the bank officials had purchased property outside India. According to bank officials, this massive scam, spread across years, could not have happened without the complicity of bank officers where even the smallest of transactions has to go through multiple checks and verification by at least two bank staff.