Banks file FIR, boosts CBI case against Kingfisher

The Central Bureau of Investigation’s loan-default probe against the defunct Kingfisher Airlines Limited recently received a boost with the SBI-led bank consortium registering a formal complaint, thus plugging a key gap — lack of complainant’s testimony — in the case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had last July registered a case against the private firm and a few others, accusing them of defaulting on loans worth Rs 900 crore by public-sector bank IDBI. The agency had registered the case on the basis of mere “source information”, as the banks had not filed a complaint, despite constant reminders, said a CBI source.

Nine months later, in March this year, the CBI subsequently “expanded the probe despite there being no formal complaints from lender banks” against the firm, to examine allegations that it defaulted on loans worth around Rs 7,000 crore — including the Rs 900 crore credit from IDBI, said the source.

Last Saturday, based on the SBI complaint, the CBI registered a fresh case against the accused firm and a few others, accusing them of defaulting on loans worth Rs 6,027 crore taken during 2005-10 from the bank consortium, according to CBI spokesperson R.K. Gaur.

The defunct airline firm and the other accused in the case have so far denied the CBI’s allegations related to wrongdoing.

“Though the CBI had expanded the probe in March by scanning loan defaults worth Rs 7,000 crore, based on the July 2015 first information report (FIR) registered in the IDBI case, the probe was facing a stiff challenge — of building a watertight case in the absence of the victim’s complaint — for getting the court’s approval,” said the source.

“The court could have asked the CBI, ‘Here are the allegations and the probe’s findings, but where are the complaints ’ In the absence of the complaints, the CBI was hoping to plug the gap by marshalling all evidence on record with the banks to supplement the probe’s findings,” said the source.

“Now, with the receipt of the complaint from the SBI-led bank consortium, the CBI expects to build a much stronger case against the accused,” the source said.

In a March meet in Mumbai on financial frauds, CBI director Anil Sinha had said, “The CBI has recently registered a case of cheating and fraud against Kingfisher and its erstwhile management. However, despite our repeated requests, the banks did not file a complaint with the CBI.”

He said, “We had to register the case on our own initiative.”