New Delhi: Jaisalmer Police has arrested former State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Pratip Chaudhuri in the loan scam case. According to the report of The Times of India, he was arrested from his Delhi residence in connection with the Jaisalmer hotel. The case pertains to properties owned by the Godawan Group, which had taken a loan of Rs 24 crore from SBI in 2008 to build a hotel.
According to news reports, the allegation against Choudhary is that when the bank had attached properties in lieu of loans, properties worth Rs 200 crore were sold for Rs 25 crore.
What did the police say in the matter?
In this case, the police say that Godawan Group had taken a loan of Rs 24 crore from SBI in 2008 to build the hotel. At this time, the group’s second hotel was operating. Later, when the group was unable to repay the loan, the hotel was declared a non-performing asset (NPA), and both the hotels were confiscated by the bank. Pratip Chaudhary was then the chairman of SBI. After this, both the hotels were sold to Alchemist ARC company for Rs 25 crore. Alok Dheer of The Alchemist managed to escape yesterday.
Frankly, without notice and without summons, how can police from another state arrest someone in Delhi, where is the due process of law? https://t.co/fEnSsycK6A
— Sunil Srivastava (@srivastavsun) November 1, 2021
Chaudhary’s tenure as 23rd chairman of SBI ended in 2013
Alchemist ARC acquired the hotels in the year 2016 and an assessment was done in 2017 showed that the market value of the property was Rs 160 crore and today it is worth Rs 200 crore. Choudhary’s term as the 23rd chairman of SBI ended in September 2013. As per reports, he joined Alchemist ARC as a director after retiring from SBI.
The Chief Judicial Magistrate in Jaisalmer issued an arrest warrant against Choudhary and seven others. Chaudhary will be brought to Jaisalmer on Monday.
