Gauhati HC Directs Experts Team to Audit ASCARD Bank Papers

Shashwati Chowdhury

Published on: July 3, 2022 at 15:15 IST

The Gauhati High Court has ordered that a four-person team of audit work experts inspect the documents relating to financial transactions of various branches and the head office of the Assam State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development (ASCARD) Bank, which have been seized and sealed by the Assam Police in accordance with a previous directive of the court.

The court has requested both the office of the Director of Audit, Local Fund, Assam, and the Principal Accountant General (A&E), Assam, to provide two experts each for the audit work.

The court also agreed with the submission that Manish Thakur, the Commissioner and Secretary of the Finance Department, would oversee and facilitate the audit work while Rafiul Alam Laskar, the DIG of the Bureau of Investigation (Economic Offences), would guide the audit team on the technicalities of financial transactions. The court further ordered that the officer in concern to start legal proceedings if the audit reveals criminal offence committed by any person or persons.

It should be mentioned that the Director General of Police (DGP) of Assam was recently directed by the High Court to seize all transactional documents from the ASCARD Bank. This directive had been given during the hearing of various petitions filed by the bank’s employees’ union and others. The court had additionally directed that the DGP bring under his own custody the transactional and other documents of all 28 of the bank’s branches through the Superintendents of Police of the concerned districts, in addition to the bank’s head office.

The bank currently only has Rs 21 lakh in its coffers, it was revealed during the earlier hearing of the matter. The court had noted that numerous people had taken loans from the bank but had not paid it back.

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