In the wake of news of Rs 300 crore scam in A P Mahesh Bank, the Telangana High Court has issued notices to the Central Registrar, RBI and others for filing their replies.
It bears recall that Mahesh Cooperative Bank Shareholders Welfare Association has filed a petition in the High Court alleging a scam of Rs 300 crore by the Board. The matter is to be heard again on February 8, reports the daily New Indian Express.
Supreme Court advocate Diljit Singh Ahluwalia who is representing the depositors, submitted his plea in the court asking to suspend the board of directors of the bank and to appoint a retired Supreme Court or High court judge as an administrator.
Meanwhile, AP Mahesh Urban Cooperative Bank Chairman Ramesh Bung met Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur about his visit to Hyderabad.
In his meeting with the minister, Bung briefed him on the activity being undertaken by the bank for the needy people. He also felicitated him with Shawl and memento. The meeting lasted 10-15 minutes. The news was shared by Bung with Indian Cooperative through WhatsApp.
It bears recall that the election and subsequent publishing of results of AP Mahesh Bank were mired in controversies. The two panels led by Ramesh Bung and Bhagwati Baldewa engaged in a dirty fight with each accusing the other of siphoning off funds. While Bung’s panel won 10 seats Baldewa’s panel bagged 5.
Several hearings on the matter related to the elections of AP Mahesh Urban Bank had taken place in the Telangana High Court. Later the court allowed the Returning Officer Esther Rani John to announce the results.
After the court gave the green light for declaration of results Ramesh Kumar Bung was declared elected unopposed as the Chairman of the UCB. Bung was elected for the third term. He had been the Chairman for two terms i.e. 2005-2010 and 2010-2015.
Bung replaced Purshotamdas Mandhana who had been made as the senior vice-chairman of the bank. Besides, one of the outgoing directors Laxminarayan Rathi had been elected unopposed as the Vice-Chairman. Rathi had replaced Attal who did not contest the election of the bank.
A P Mahesh Bank has a branch network of 45 covering four states. It is a Multi-State Scheduled Bank and its Head Office is located in Hyderabad.