While the BJP is euphoric jubilant the Congress which is battling corruption charges at the national level feels embarrassed following the state government FIR against Mr. Khan for an alleged fraud case on Thursday.
Budget session of parliament is beginning from February 21 and if he remained on the coveted chair of the august house, the opposition is all set to make it another big issue. Sources in the congress party said that Khan issue has created another headache for the party. “We are already facing a lot of trouble. The Rahman Khan issue has only added to our woes”, said a senior congress leader adding that it is up to Mr. Khan as how he convinces the party high command in his defence.
Khan however strongly denied any fraud in the matter. He said that filing an FIR without giving any notice or opportunity to him to explain any allegation ‘was a deliberate attempt to tarnish my image’. He said that the complaint relates to what transpired in 1996 and 2000. He said that filing the FIR after a gap of 11-15 years is prima facie untenable.
Armed with its inquiry report, the state Cooperative Department got an FIR registered against Khan and two others on charges of financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 102.02 crore in the alleged loan scam in Amanat Cooperative Bank. The complaint was registered with the Commercial Street police on Wednesday.
Karnataka Cooperative Department, has accused Khan of granting loan of Rs 57.66 crore to 48 fictitious characters when he was the chairman of the bank during 1989-2002.
According to minister for cooperation Laxman Savadi, the cooperative department’s joint registrar Sehar Banu had conducted an inquiry into alleged irregularities and submitted a report stating that the loss to the state exchequer was Rs 102.02 crore.
Savadi said “When Khan was president, he had sanctioned loans to benami names. After an inquiry, the total amount of the scam has been pegged at Rs 102.02 crore. Along with him, two others, Zia Ul Sharief, former president of the bank and A.A. Qatib, former director of the bank have also been booked under same sections.”
He also said that a report would be sent to the Centre on the issue soon.
In its second inquiry report, the cooperation department had clearly maintained that irregularities were taken place between 2002 and 2005 when Zia Ul Sharief was the President and Rahman Khan was one of the directors of Amanath Cooperative Bank.
The complaint has also highlighted the administrative lapses like non calling of tenders, transfer of funds etc which was the responsibility of the then CEO.
Probe report:
* Wrongful transfer of money to Khan’s son, Maqsood Khan’s account, by PHR Developers – Rs 1.54 crore.
* Violation of RBI norms while waiving off loan amount under one time settlement scheme – Rs 28.25 crore.
* Sharief mismanaging his loan account – Rs 0.09 crore.
* Waiving of principal and interest amount of Qatib – Rs 0.09 crore.
* Sanctioning loan to NRI’s violating RBI norms – Rs 0.51 crore.
* Deposit of more amount to PHR Developers – Rs 8.37 crore.
* Violation of norms while sanctioning loan amount to City Towers and K. Farooq Ahmed – Rs 4.93 crore.