No Relief For Indbank Debtors: Fm

Finance minister P Chidambaram yesterday denied that the United Front government had extended any concession to debtors of Indian Bank. In a statement here, he said the Bank had suffered a loss of Rs 1300 crore due to bad debts in 1995-96 when Manmohan Singh was the finance minister. He said when he took over in June 1996, he called for a detailed report from Reserve Bank of India about the affairs of Indian Bank. The RBI report had been placed before the Supreme Court, he said.

Meanwhile, TMC leader G K Moopanar has said he would quit politics if it was proved that he was involved in the Indian Bank scam. Rebutting AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithas charge about his role in the Bank issue, Moopanar denied the involvement of his partymen, including Chidambaram, in the scam. The TMC leader was addressing public meetings in Sivaganga seeking support for Chidambaram.