Technical loan write-off route should not be applied for fugitives: Chidambaram to government

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday asked the government why it had taken the technical loan write-off route for fugitives like Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya.
His remarks came after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that wilful defaulters were beneficiaries of ‘phone banking’ under the UPA regime and the Modi government is chasing them to recover the dues.
She was responding to the opposition party’s allegations of loan waiver worth Rs 68,607 crore in the form of write-offs to the top 50 wilful defaulters during the first half of the financial year ended March 2020.

Chidambaram said one cannot deny the rule that banks can write-off loans technically and recoveries can continue against wilful defaulters, but why was the rule applied to fugitives, who fled the country, after committing frauds.
“One is not denying such a rule that can be applied to a wilful defaulter. But, we are asking these are fugitives and they have left the country and are absconding. Why are you applying this rule to Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya,” he said at press conference conducted through video conferencing.
Chidambaram said “when they are fugitives, the technical rule in the book should not be applied to them. That is my view”.
The former finance minister also urged the government to announce a scheme to protect the salaries and wages of 12 crore people as employers are facing financial crunch in the wake of the COVID-19-induced lockdown.
He called upon the government to announce a financial package for the MSME sector, as proposed by his party, and provide financial assistance to states to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Chidambaram further asked the government to prepare an exit strategy in view of the lockdown and look into the issue of migrants stranded in different place due to it.
“Time is of the essence. In the absence of a clear signal of assistance from the government during these extremely difficult times, the private sector will be forced to resort to large scale retrenchments and layoffs, which will devastate livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people,” he said.
Chidambaram also proposed a ‘paycheque protection program’ for workers.
“We urge the Prime Minister to step in urgently and announce an assistance package to protect the wages/salaries and pay cheques that are due in the next few days,” he added.
The April salaries of 12 crore employees working in the MSME and non-MSME sector must be protected and the government should do something about this, he said.