‘Seed Farm’ spread over 257 kanals land in Srinagar attached
New Board of Directors appointed to run affairs
Neeraj Rohmetra
JAMMU, May 16: In a major crackdown against corruption on the directions of Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu, the Government today superseded the Board of Jammu and Kashmir State Cooperative Bank Limited (JKSCBL) and appointed new official Board including the Chairman and the Managing Director after detecting major irregularities and violations of all norms in sanction of Rs 223 crore worth loan to a non-existent body named River Jhelum Cooperative House Building Society for construction of satellite township at Shivpora, Srinagar..
The Government has attached `Seed Farm’ situated at Dhar Bagh, Shivpora spread over nearly 257 kanals of land in Srinagar which had been purchased from the loan amount.
The NABARD, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Jammu and Kashmir and the Registrar Cooperatives in their separate enquiries into sanction of Rs 223 crore worth loans by the Bank to a non-existent Society have established the fraud committed by the Board of Directors.
The Lieutenant Governor has already directed all Government Departments to go tough against corruption in various institutions and detection of Rs 223 crore worth fraud by the JKSCBL is a step in that direction as supersession of the Board of the Bank will send a strong message to all those indulging in corrupt practices.
“Some influential persons were involved in the scam and their identity may surface during further inquiries into the sanction of loan,” official sources told the Excelsior.
After superseding the Board, the Government today appointed the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir as Chairman and Tassaduq Hussain Mir, KAS as Managing Director of the Bank. The Members nominated to the Board included General Manager NABARD, Additional Registrar Cooperative Kashmir, Moksha Kazmi, Senior Advocate, J&K High Court, Rajni Saraf, President J&K Bank and R Saboti, Chartered Accountant.
“The Reserve Bank of India is being consulted for confirming the order of supersession of Board of Directors and appointment of new Board,” sources said, adding the new Managing Director today took a meeting of the officers of the JKSCBL.
Mohammad Shaffi Dar, Chairman of the Bank, has been booked by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Sources said the Chairman in connivance with officials and beneficiaries, had sanctioned Rs 223 crore fraudulently in favour of a non-existent co-operative society – River Jhelum Co-operative Housing Building Society.
It was further revealed that the Chairman of the so-called society had moved an application in the Department of Co-operative Societies, seeking directions to the J&K Cooperative Bank for grant of financial assistance of Rs 300 crore for taking over possession of 300 kanals of land on the outskirts of Srinagar City for construction of a satellite township.
“J&K Cooperative Bank, Srinagar, sanctioned a loan to the tune of Rs 223 crores without obtaining any details of the society like balance sheet, profit and loss account business, activities being done by the society, PAN number, Income Tax Returns details and details of construction of the Board, and Board resolutions among other things,” the official said.
Inquiries had revealed that the River Jhelum Co-operative Housing Building Society was not even registered with Jammu and Kashmir’s Registrar Co-operative Societies.
The Chairman of the so-called society named Hilal Ahmad Mir son of Sanaullah Mir R/o Magarmal, Srinagar, by acting in league with chairman of J&K Cooperative Bank and others, had prepared fake and fictitious registration certificates and managed the sanction of loan amount to the tune of Rs 223 crores, sources said.
They added that the acts of omission and commission on the part of Mohammad Shafi Dar, Chairman of the Bank, and others in conspiracy, resulted in the loss of Rs 223 crores to the Bank.
While superseding the Board of Directors of the Bank, the Cooperatives Department said a detailed inquiry conducted by the Anti-Corruption Bureau showed that the Board was directly involved in embezzlement of huge amount and causing loss to public money by entering into fraudulent transactions.
It said the NABARD has also pointed out deficiency in loan application, appraisal, process of sanction, documentation, post disbursement monitoring of the limits in its report wherein it has been specifically mentioned that the loan amount of Rs 250 crore was sanctioned with release of 92 percent thereof within a week in violation of delegation of powers for loans and advances vested with the Loan Committee and the Board of Directors involving an amount above Rs 40 lakh and amount exceeding Rs 1 crore respectively. However, as per loan manual of the Bank, the maximum sanctioned limit was Rs 1 crore only.
Instead, the Bank sanctioned a loan of Rs 250 crore to a single unit violating the unit-wise exposure norms of loans and advances. The Bank hadn’t report this to NABARD.
Significantly, in its returns for quarter ending September 2019 sent by the Bank to NABARD, only Rs 23 crore was mentioned which implies that the Bank had concealed the information related to loaning of such a huge amount to a single borrower without verifying the antecedents.
Sources said a Government’s Inquiry Committee into the scam had stated that the Bank had provided sketchy information and that present scam may only be a tip of the iceberg. They added that the Registrar Cooperative Societies has also recommended supersession of the Board of Directors in view of large scale bungling committed by them.
After supersession of the Board of Directors, the Government has also attached `Seed Farm’ situated at Dhar Bagh, Shivpora in Srinagar.
It has been revealed in the enquiry that after release of loan amount sanctioned by the Bank, a power of attorney was executed on May 11, 2019 by the land owners of 257 kanals and 19 marlas of land at Shivpora, Srinagar in favour of Hilal Ahmed Mir, the self styled Chairman of the non-existent River Jhelum Cooperative House Building Society.
Hilal executed a lease deed on June 11, 2019 with Abdul Hamid Hajam son of Ghulam Nabi Hajam of Zakura, Srinagar, who has been mentioned as Secretary of the Society, authorizing the lessee to mortgage, transfer or assign his rights in respect of the land in question at Dhar Bagh through any other financial institution of his own choice and raise project loan from any State, nationalized bank or institution.
The land measuring 286 kanals and one marls at Shivpora in the name of late Makhan Lal Dhar and others popularly known as ‘Seed Farm’ is in the cultivation of tenants and within this Estate, land measuring 28 kanals and two marlas is shown in the recorded possession of Irrigation Department.
Sources said the enquiry report further pointed towards violation of provisions of `The J&K Migrant Immovable Property (Preservation, Protection and Restraint of Distress Sales) act, 1997′, ‘The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act 2016’ ‘The Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002′ and the Agrarian Reforms Act 1976.
In order to protect the interest of bonafide depositors, the Government has directed that the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, as an ad-interim measure, will attach the land measuring 257 kanals and 19 Marlas along with structures erected thereupon, if any, falling at Shivpora, Srinagar, known as `Seed Farm’ and place land in the safe custody of District Magistrate, Srinagar till further orders.
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