Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das came under pressure at the bank’s board meeting last week, with two external directors questioning how a string of frauds that have surfaced since 2018 remained undetected for years.

The two board members referred to the losses suffered by Punjab National Bank, which bankrolled jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi; the multiple irregularities in IL&FS, which came to light after the firm defaulted on payment obligations; and the recent failure of Punjab & Maharashtra Coop (PMC) Bank — 70% of whose loan book was cornered by Mumbai-based realtor HDIL.

“These incidents differ from each other and are not exactly related, but a few members were quite vocal about it. The governor explained the information-sharing system and collection of data by the RBI… In some cases, the data itself — even the audited numbers — were either inadequate or fudged,” a person aware of the discussions told ET.

“Perhaps, it wasn’t an entirely fair question, but it was apparent that the RBI officials felt awkward. Maybe it was not expected,” said the person.

The spokesman for RBI declined to comment on board deliberations. #casansaar (Source - Economic Times)