Mumbai: After Bank of Baroda freezed the bank accounts of Pilibhit farmer Manmohan Singh for being the guarantor of the embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya, the former has served a legal notice to the bank’s Mumbai and Pilibhit branches.
According to a Times of India report, Manmohan Singh has charged Bank of Baroda for defamation and has claimed Rs 10 lakh in compensation within 30 days.
Bank of Baroda’s Mumbai regional office, in December 2015, had traced Manohar Singh, a farmer from village Naviram, and asserted that he was one of the guarantors for Mallya in his Rs 550 crore loan.
Later on, BoB had ordered the local Nand branch to freeze Manohar’s both accounts – saving account (number 01/4637) and crop local account (number 01/3881).
Manohar kept on producing his bank account statements in front of the bank several times and explained them that he didn’t even know who Vijay Mallya is.
“We have asked the bank to explain how they managed to establish my client as Mallya's guarantor. We also asked them to disclose the findings that finally led them to relieve Singh of the charges,” Ram Pal Gangwar, advocate of Manohar Singh told The Times of India.
“The act of the bank has not only caused stress, but also defamed my client. It has raised questions on his integrity. We want the bank to a pay Rs 10 lakh for def-amation, and Rs 24,000 as reparation of the loss he bore on the sale of his crop to non-government agencies due to the restriction on the operation of his bank accounts,” Gangwar added.
Manohar said that he had to suffer huge losses as without a functional bank account, he was forced to sell his crop at low prices.
“After we sell our yield to government agencies, the payment comes through cheque. Without a working account, I had to sell my sugar-cane and wheat yield to non-government agencies on far lower prices, and as such suf-fered a loss of Rs 1 lakh. That means a lot to a small-time farmer like me. I also have an ongoing crop loan and lost subsidy on the interest on my Kisan Credit Card,” he said.
The Enforcement Directorate yesterday moved a special PMLA court in Mumbai seeking to declare liquor baron a proclaimed offender in connection with its money laundering probe against him in an alleged bank loan fraud case.
