Have nothing to do with loan default, says Y.S. Chowdary

Facing a non-bailable warrant in a case of alleged default in repayment of loan from a Mauritian bank, union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y. S. Chowdary on Friday claimed that he is no way concerned and that he was implicated in the case to defame him.

A day after the city court issued the warrant in a case filed by Mauritius Commercial Bank in connection with the default of Rs.106 crore loan taken by a Mauritius-based company, the minister said his counsel will approach the court on Monday or Tuesday to seek exemption.

"I will act as per the advice of my lawyer," Chowdary said to a query if he would appear before the court in response to the warrant.

Stating that he is law-abiding citizen, the minister said as someone in public life, he had full respect for the courts and the law of the land but sought to clarify that he is not even a director and has less than one percent share in Sujana Industries, which gave corporate guarantee for the loan raken by Hestia Holdings Limited.

He admitted that the step-down subsidiary of Sujana Industries took the loan and defaulted.

"The loan was taken when I was not there. The company (Sujana) did not take the loan. It only gave the guarantee," he said.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader said he was non-executive director since 2010 and not holding even that position since 2014.

"It is said that the loan was taken in 2012 and in 2014, it (Hestia Holdings) defaulted due to global economic crisis," he said.

Chowdary said the company directors had been attending the court. "Anybody's name can be included. Perhaps my name was included as a pressure tactic because I am in public life. Their lawyer might have advised them to do so," he said.

Terming it as a "very small issue", he said the media should differentiate between cheating and default.

He said profit and losses happen in any company and sometimes it faces problems in cash flow. "They (the bank) are in lending business and companies are in borrowing business to do business," he remarked.

He said while the company has to take the responsibility as it gave corporate guarantee, the first charge lies with a consortium of local banks which are part of the company. He said the banks had already impleaded themselves in the case.

Stating that it was unsecured loan, Chowdary said it was for the company and the bankers to decide when to clear the unsecured loan.

The minister, who founded Sujana Industries 30 years ago, said for 27 years it maintained a clean record as public listed company.