Panel indicts Central Bank chief

Shunglu Committee,probing the Commonwealth Games,has targeted the Central Bank of India.

The V K Shunglu Committee,probing the Commonwealth Games,has now targeted the Central Bank of India,the official bankers for the event. And accused its chairman of being interested in CWG contracts because a relative was posted in London with the CWG Organising Committee.

Shunglu has written to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar asking them for information on the banks dealings with the OC.

The former Comptroller and Auditor Generals letter to the Finance Minister,dated February 10,2011,lists several allegations against the Central Bank while his letter to the Cabinet Secretary,dated January 31,2011 asks for information on free tickets of the Closing Ceremony saying the bank was reluctant to provide the same to the committee.

On January 11,2011,Shantanu Consul,member of the Shunglu committee,wrote to the bank asking for a breakdown of the huge expenses incurred by the bank for purchase and distribution of free Commonwealth Games tickets.

With no details forthcoming,the committee then wrote to the Finance Minister alleging:
Central Bank of India entered into a sponsorship deal with the OC without authorisation of the Department of Financial Services,Ministry of Finance,despite earlier initiatives of the State Bank of India and the Punjab National Bank being explicitly turned down by the Department.
Without consulting the Department of Financial Services,the Central Bank paid Rs 50 crore in cash to the OC for certain rights but the MoU suggests the bank virtually secured no rights.
Under the MoU,the Central Bank was not obliged to incur any expenses on behalf of the OC but the bank paid all expenses for the progress of the Queens Baton Relay from the Wagah border to New Delhi.
This expenditure was camouflaged by debiting it to zonal offices of the bank,such as Chandigarh,Kolkata,Chennai and Delhi and the Board of the bank was kept in the dark.
Despite being the official bankers,Central Bank purchased tickets worth Rs 28 lakh and distributed these,among others,to officials of the Department of Financial Services.
Shunglu has claimed,in his letter to the Finance Minister,that S Sridhar,chairman,Central Bank,was personally interested in the CWG contracts since someone close to him was posted as an OC official in London.

The letter notes,We have no recourse but to address you with the request that information relating to expenses incurred by the Central Bank of India on the Queens Baton may be made available to us. Similarly,names of officials to whom free tickets were made available may also be supplied to us.

Probe What went wrong
False,baseless: Bank chiefWhen contacted,Central Bank chief S Sridhar said:
>> For CWG sponsorship,there was no need to take Finance Ministrys permission; it was cleared by the Board.
>> We got passes from OC as part of our sponsorship deal,whats wrong in buying more tickets for our clients? We saw it as a lifetime opportunity8230;it gave the bank a new image.
>> Totally baseless to say that a friend or relative of mine posted in London,influenced these decisions. The Shunglu Committee sent us queries and we replied.