Maharashtra Co-operative department has issued showcause notices to some former as well present directors of various co-operative banks, including the Mumbai Co-operative Bank, for alleged irregularities.
The state government has recently issued an ordinance that makes provisions for disallowing co-operative bank directors, responsible for loss and irregularities in banks, from contesting co-operative elections for the next ten years.
Although the amendment bill in co-operative law was not passed in Winter Session of the state Legislature held in Nagpur last December, the BJP government ruled out objections of the Opposition and brought the ordinance last month.
A total of 44 former and present directors were responsible for losses in various district co-operative banks in the state, said Additional Commissioner and Special Registrar, Maharashtra Co-operative Department, Sunil Pawar.
"The Reserve Bank of India took action against district co-operative banks, including those in Mumbai, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Nashik, Dhule-Nandurbar, Ahmednagar, Solapur, Kolhapur, Latur, Parbhani, Aurangabad, Akola, Amravati and Yavatmal in 2012," he said.
"The then board of directors had taken decisions that affected the banks immensely, and the RBI suspended the licences of these banks and disallowed them to continue with their banking business," Pawar said.
He further said that due to lacunae in the present co-operative law, the department has not been able to take stringent action against these directors.
Hence, the state has brought an ordinance so that such directors can be kept away (from the bank activities) for next ten years, he said.
State Co-operative Minister Chandrakant Patil said:"There were no provisions to stop corrupt directors from contesting elections of co-operative banks, cotton mills or sugar factories."
Though the department tried to take action against them, the directors pressurised the (then) state government for stay orders, he said.
"Now, all these directors will not be able to contest elections," he said.
Pawar said that notices have been issued on January 29, 30
and February 1 this year to the directors and they have been given 15 days time to submit their replies.
Meanwhile, former NCP minister and Kolhapur bank's ex-director Hasan Mushrif said that the department has accepted his plea to extend deadline for submitting reply to the showcause till March 2.
Dilip Sopal, also a former NCP minister and Kolhapur bank's ex-director, alleged political vendetta.
"This is a political vendetta against the directors as the BJP could not win the co-operative sector," he said.
Dhule-Nandurbar co-operative bank's former director Shyam Saner alleged that the state does not want them to continue as directors of the bank.
"The BJP government has decided to keep Congress-NCP leaders out from the co-operative sector, and so we know that our reply will not be accepted and we will have to eventually resign from the post of directors," Saner said.
