HC asks Jaffer Sharief for affidavit on Rs 67-crore bailout for Amanath bank

The High Court has directed former Union minister C K Jaffer Sharief to file an affidavit on his promise to raise Rs 67 crore to bail Amanath Co-operative bank (ACB) out of its financial crisis. 

Hearing a petition by Sharief and others against the embattled bank’s merger with Canara Bank, Justice S Abdul Nazeer on Tuesday directed him to file an affidavit in this regard before July 2, 2015. 

The court sought details of the money to be raised and when would the Congress leader pay the promised money. It could be recalled that Sharief had offered to raise Rs 67 crore to revive the bank instead of its proposed merger with Canara Bank.

Meanwhile, the counsel for the ACB filed a memo, stating that eight out of the 32 recovery cases pending before the joint Registrar of Co-operative Societies had been settled and the rest would be resolved soon. 

The counsel also submitted that the bank was in the process of closing some of its branches and that exercise would also be completed soon. 

The court also directed the Department of Co-operation to speed up its probe into the alleged misappropriation of funds by directors of the bank. The bank has been directed to file an affidavit on the transactions by the next date of hearing.