The curious case of Pratip Chaudhuri's arrest

The account turned bad before he took over as SBI chairman. The underlying asset was sold to AARC following an open bidding process, months after he retired.

In December 2019, allaying the fear of three Cs — the Central Bureau of Investigation, Central Vigilance Commission and Comptroller and Audit General — Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured bankers that prudent commercial decision-making would be protected and there would not be any harassment from the investigating agencies.

A week before this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured the banking and corporate world that they should “take decisions fearlessly, invest boldly and spend undauntedly".

While addressing the bankers, with the CBI director in tow, Sitharaman didn’t talk about the state-level law enforcement agencies.

Last Sunday, the Rajasthan Police arrested Pratip Chaudhuri, former State