Caught between the devil & the deep blue sea

Why banks continued to give money to Kingfisher Airlines is still shrouded in mystery; too many questions remain unanswered

In late July, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) penalised 11 banks for not complying with the norms to classify an account as fraud and report to the regulator. Despite being advised by the RBI to report fraud in an account “immediately” after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) initiated criminal proceedings, the banks had either delayed or did not report the fraud to the central bank. The RBI did not mention it but the “account” in question is that of the now-defunct Kingisher Airlines Ltd.

Before imposing the penalty on July 31, the RBI had met representatives of these