The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a preliminary enquiry to enquire into the role of IDBI Bank and Kingfisher Airlines in a loan sanctioning matter.
The enquiry is to find “how IDBI Bank had sanctioned Rs 950 crore when Kingfisher Airline had a negative net worth and negative credit rating.”
CBI sources said that it was first exposure to the bank. There was no need to take exposure outside the consortium when already other banks loans were getting stressed, they said.
A preliminary enquiry is registered when a complaint is received or information is available which may, after verification as enjoined in this manual, indicate serious misconduct on the part of a public servant but is not adequate to justify registration of a regular case under the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
A preliminary enquiry may be converted into a regular case as soon as sufficient material becomes available to show that prima facie there has been commission of a cognisable offence. When the verification of a complaint and source information reveals commission of a prima facie cognizable offence, a regular case is to be registered as is enjoined by law.
The investigating agency is already investigating the loans granted by State Bank of India (SBI). SBI and various other banks have a total exposure of about Rs 6,500 crore in Vijay Mallya promoted Kingfisher Airlines.
It may be noted that Kingfisher Airlines had stopped operations with effect from October 1, 2012. Its air operator permit was suspended on October 20, 2012 and stands lapsed from December 31, 2012.