Nanda Kumar had allegedly unearthed irregularities in the account of a company at Dena Bank, which attracted a CBI enquiry; bureau included Kumar within ambit of its investigations, but acquitted him later
This 65-year-old throat cancer survivor has been fighting to get his dues and promotion from Dena Bank for the past 22 years, despite a court judgement in his favour.
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D Nanda Kumar at his residence in Dahisar. Pic/Romita Chakraborty
D Nanda Kumar joined the bank as a clerk in 1971 and was promoted to the officer grade in 1981. During 1985-1989, he was working as an officer in the bank’s Centralized Foreign Exchange Department.
Kumar was required to handle and scrutinise various documents pertaining to exports forwarded by other branches of the bank across the country drawn under Letters Of Credit (LCs). Kumar says that he was instrumental towards putting an end to certain irregularities that were detected in the account of a company in 1987.
However, subsequently, a CBI (Central Bureau of Investi-gation) enquiry into the LC case prosecuted all the officers in the department, including Kumar. The CBI thereafter launched a case (bearing No: 6 of 1992 in a Special Court), but no charges were framed.
Kumar then appeared for promotion in 1993 for promotion from Scale-I to Scale-II (hierarchies in the bank’s officer grade). But the promotion was kept in a sealed cover due to the pending court case. A Dena Bank committee in 1995 first recommended Kumar for ad hoc promotion. This would have made him eligible for further promotions to higher grades.
According to Kumar, had he been promoted at the right time, he would have retired as a general manager from the bank in 2010. As per the provisions of Dena Bank’s policy, Kumar says he was recommended for ad hoc promotion four times during 1995 to 2007.
On March 26, 2014, the Court of Special Judge for the CBI acquitted Kumar. However, his ad hoc promotion has still not been regularised, despite the court order. Kumar told mid-day, “The bank not only exposed me to criminal action but also failed to protect my interest by not giving ad hoc promotion.”