06-28-2007, 04:09 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Â PM comes to Pratibha's rescue as charges continue to pile up
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
... but fails to address allegations against her family
As disturbing disclosures about UPA presidential nominee Pratibha Patil's family in various irregularities continued to pour in by the hour, a rattled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday stepped in for much-needed damage control exercise. Â
<b>The Prime Minister rubbished as "mudslinging" charges of financial irregularities against her saying there was no allegation against her personally.
Singh said there were many other sugar mills in Maharashtra which faced financial problems and it was not proper to target Pratibha for the same. </b>
<b>"It is mudslinging," he told mediapersons here when asked about allegations about default of Rs 17 crore loan taken by a factory headed by her till a decade back.</b>
Talking to mediapersons after releasing a book at his residence, Singh said there was no allegation against Pratibha as a person.
Singh's defence of Pratibha failed to address many critical questions raised by the media about the linkage of her family members in the collapse of the Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank, which lent Rs 2.2 crore to Pratibha's family members, and later had to be liquidated. Pratibha was the founding chairperson of the bank and was also one of its directors.
While giving a clean chit to Pratibha, the Prime Minister was silent on the fact that Pratibha Patil is one of the 34 respondents in an ongoing case in the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court, which is going into the case on the alleged mismanagement of the bank and misappropriation of funds by its Managing Directors. Clearly, till the disposal of the case, Pratibha Patil could not be entirely de-linked from the irregularities.
The Prime Minister's intervention comes in the midst of reports that <b>the Left and the UPA allies were greatly disturbed by the media disclosures of the wrong-doing involving Pratibha's family members</b>. When the report first surfaced that Pratibha Patil's brother was allegedly involved in the murder of former Jalgaon district Congress committee president in 2005, the allies had staunchly supported Pratibha.<b> But when the reports of corruption began to pour in, most of the allies chose to remain silent. </b>
So far Pratibha Patil herself has not responded to the charges.
Meanwhile, the BJP has brought out a booklet containing two articles by former Minister and now Rajya Sabha member Arun Shourie listing a series of charges against Pratibha.
In another related development, CNN-IBN has reported that Pratibha's elder brother is being investigated for his role in the collapse of the cooperative bank which gave loans to her relatives.
Pratibha founded the Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank in 1973 and has no connection with it now but an investigation by the TV channel found that her brother, Dilip Singh Patil, has not returned loans worth lakhs.
Dilip allegedly owes the bank Rs 8.72 lakh and his son, Kishor, has an outstanding of almost Rs 95 lakh.
If the money owed by Pratibha's relatives and acquaintances are added the defaulted amount comes to Rs 2.24 crore. The bank collapsed in 2003.
Bank employees, in a petition filed before a court, have alleged that Dilip ran up a bill of over Rs 20 lakh talking to stockbrokers in Mumbai from a phone belonging to the bank.<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'> The employees allege they collected a day's salary for a Kargil soldiers' welfare fund but the money never reached beneficiaries.</span> The bank also lent money to the Muktabai Cooperative Sugar Factory, which too was set up by Pratibha and is now defunct.
A report by the Reserve Bank of India says the women's cooperative bank was run in a manner detrimental to the interests of depositors.
The cooperative bank had no loan policy and the credit appraisal system was not satisfactory. The board made no attempt to improve the bank's financial status and bring it out of its weak position.
No member of the board had any experience in either banking or management.
<b>Government employee Krishnan Chowdhury, who used the cooperative bank for his salary account, blames Pratibha for his loss. "The bank was being run in Pratibha Patil's name, so she is responsible. We must get the Rs 11 lakh owed to us."</b> CNN-IBN quoted Chowdhury as saying
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
No surprise Moron Singh is supporting Kargil Fund chor.
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
... but fails to address allegations against her family
As disturbing disclosures about UPA presidential nominee Pratibha Patil's family in various irregularities continued to pour in by the hour, a rattled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday stepped in for much-needed damage control exercise. Â
<b>The Prime Minister rubbished as "mudslinging" charges of financial irregularities against her saying there was no allegation against her personally.
Singh said there were many other sugar mills in Maharashtra which faced financial problems and it was not proper to target Pratibha for the same. </b>
<b>"It is mudslinging," he told mediapersons here when asked about allegations about default of Rs 17 crore loan taken by a factory headed by her till a decade back.</b>
Talking to mediapersons after releasing a book at his residence, Singh said there was no allegation against Pratibha as a person.
Singh's defence of Pratibha failed to address many critical questions raised by the media about the linkage of her family members in the collapse of the Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank, which lent Rs 2.2 crore to Pratibha's family members, and later had to be liquidated. Pratibha was the founding chairperson of the bank and was also one of its directors.
While giving a clean chit to Pratibha, the Prime Minister was silent on the fact that Pratibha Patil is one of the 34 respondents in an ongoing case in the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court, which is going into the case on the alleged mismanagement of the bank and misappropriation of funds by its Managing Directors. Clearly, till the disposal of the case, Pratibha Patil could not be entirely de-linked from the irregularities.
The Prime Minister's intervention comes in the midst of reports that <b>the Left and the UPA allies were greatly disturbed by the media disclosures of the wrong-doing involving Pratibha's family members</b>. When the report first surfaced that Pratibha Patil's brother was allegedly involved in the murder of former Jalgaon district Congress committee president in 2005, the allies had staunchly supported Pratibha.<b> But when the reports of corruption began to pour in, most of the allies chose to remain silent. </b>
So far Pratibha Patil herself has not responded to the charges.
Meanwhile, the BJP has brought out a booklet containing two articles by former Minister and now Rajya Sabha member Arun Shourie listing a series of charges against Pratibha.
In another related development, CNN-IBN has reported that Pratibha's elder brother is being investigated for his role in the collapse of the cooperative bank which gave loans to her relatives.
Pratibha founded the Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank in 1973 and has no connection with it now but an investigation by the TV channel found that her brother, Dilip Singh Patil, has not returned loans worth lakhs.
Dilip allegedly owes the bank Rs 8.72 lakh and his son, Kishor, has an outstanding of almost Rs 95 lakh.
If the money owed by Pratibha's relatives and acquaintances are added the defaulted amount comes to Rs 2.24 crore. The bank collapsed in 2003.
Bank employees, in a petition filed before a court, have alleged that Dilip ran up a bill of over Rs 20 lakh talking to stockbrokers in Mumbai from a phone belonging to the bank.<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'> The employees allege they collected a day's salary for a Kargil soldiers' welfare fund but the money never reached beneficiaries.</span> The bank also lent money to the Muktabai Cooperative Sugar Factory, which too was set up by Pratibha and is now defunct.
A report by the Reserve Bank of India says the women's cooperative bank was run in a manner detrimental to the interests of depositors.
The cooperative bank had no loan policy and the credit appraisal system was not satisfactory. The board made no attempt to improve the bank's financial status and bring it out of its weak position.
No member of the board had any experience in either banking or management.
<b>Government employee Krishnan Chowdhury, who used the cooperative bank for his salary account, blames Pratibha for his loss. "The bank was being run in Pratibha Patil's name, so she is responsible. We must get the Rs 11 lakh owed to us."</b> CNN-IBN quoted Chowdhury as saying
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
No surprise Moron Singh is supporting Kargil Fund chor.