<p>The Kerala High Court has granted bail to a former member of the Board of Directors of the Karuvannur Co-Operative bank in six cases arising out of the over Rs 100 crore loan scam in the CPI(M)-controlled bank.</p>.<p>The conditional relief was granted to the accused as he was suffering from various ailments including Glaucoma and had also undergone a throat surgery. "Therefore, taking into account his health condition, I am inclined to release him on bail," Justice Shircy V said.</p>.<p>The high court granted the relief to 62-year old Jose CA subject to his executing a bond of Rs 5,00,000 with two solvent sureties for the like sum in each of the six cases in which he is an accused. It also directed him to deposit a sum of Rs 2,00,000, in each of the six cases, in the jurisdictional court within two weeks of his release.</p>.<p>Additional Director General of Prosecution and senior advocate Grashious Kuriakose and government pleader CK Suresh, appearing for the state of Kerala and the police, told the court that the accused colluded with the other co-accused "with a dishonest intention to cheat the bank as well its depositors." They also told the court that the accused deliberately violated the provisions prescribed in the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act and Rules and the provisions of the bank's bye-laws, committed forgery and siphoned off huge amounts from it.</p>.<p>"They (all the accused) have created fake membership forms and granted more than one loan to the same person upon the mortgage of a single property lying beyond the jurisdiction of the Bank showing highly inflated market value. They also illegally released the mortgage of the properties before settlement of the loans violating the rules for unlawful gain. "Thus by committing criminal breach of trust, cheating and forgery they have gained pecuniary advantage of approximately Rs 100 crore and caused corresponding monetary loss to the bank and its genuine customers," Kuriakose and Suresh told the court.</p>.<p>They also strenuously opposed the accused' bail application, contending that the directors board had approved the applications submitted for 279 loans violating all the norms and a detailed investigation was required as huge amounts were involved in this scam.</p>.<p>"As the involvement of this petitioner has emerged upon investigation if the bail application is allowed, the investigation could not be proceeded with smoothly and effectively," they told the court. The lawyer appearing for Jose told the court that his client was innocent and he was falsely implicated due to political pressure.</p>.<p>"The loans were sanctioned without the recommendation of the Director Board members and the entire malpractice was committed by the accused Nos.1 to 6 without the knowledge of the Board of Directors," the petitioner's lawyer told the court.</p>.<p>The court, after hearing both sides, said there was no doubt that the nature and gravity of the accusations leveled against the petitioner-accused were "very serious and grave." "Prima facie it is revealed that this petitioner, a member of board of directors has colluded with the other accused to commit forgery, manipulation of accounts and to cheat the bank for wrongful gain.</p>.<p>Since huge amount is involved in this scam the investigating agency require time to unearth all the details involved in the case.</p>.<p>"Scientific examination with the help of technical experts is also required to ascertain the real gravity of the offence alleged against this petitioner as well the other accused," the court said.</p>.<p>However, in view of his health condition, the court granted him bail. Police had registered a case against six bank officials and launched an investigation after the scam was detected. After several people, including local customers raised apprehensions about the bank's functioning, an audit had been conducted in which the charges were reportedly found to be true.</p>.<p>During the inspection, it was also found that loans were sanctioned on the property pledged by local customers without their knowledge and the loan amount was credited multiple times to the selected accounts. The case was registered against bank officials, including the secretary of the bank, who were already placed under suspension following the allegations.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
<p>The Kerala High Court has granted bail to a former member of the Board of Directors of the Karuvannur Co-Operative bank in six cases arising out of the over Rs 100 crore loan scam in the CPI(M)-controlled bank.</p>.<p>The conditional relief was granted to the accused as he was suffering from various ailments including Glaucoma and had also undergone a throat surgery. "Therefore, taking into account his health condition, I am inclined to release him on bail," Justice Shircy V said.</p>.<p>The high court granted the relief to 62-year old Jose CA subject to his executing a bond of Rs 5,00,000 with two solvent sureties for the like sum in each of the six cases in which he is an accused. It also directed him to deposit a sum of Rs 2,00,000, in each of the six cases, in the jurisdictional court within two weeks of his release.</p>.<p>Additional Director General of Prosecution and senior advocate Grashious Kuriakose and government pleader CK Suresh, appearing for the state of Kerala and the police, told the court that the accused colluded with the other co-accused "with a dishonest intention to cheat the bank as well its depositors." They also told the court that the accused deliberately violated the provisions prescribed in the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act and Rules and the provisions of the bank's bye-laws, committed forgery and siphoned off huge amounts from it.</p>.<p>"They (all the accused) have created fake membership forms and granted more than one loan to the same person upon the mortgage of a single property lying beyond the jurisdiction of the Bank showing highly inflated market value. They also illegally released the mortgage of the properties before settlement of the loans violating the rules for unlawful gain. "Thus by committing criminal breach of trust, cheating and forgery they have gained pecuniary advantage of approximately Rs 100 crore and caused corresponding monetary loss to the bank and its genuine customers," Kuriakose and Suresh told the court.</p>.<p>They also strenuously opposed the accused' bail application, contending that the directors board had approved the applications submitted for 279 loans violating all the norms and a detailed investigation was required as huge amounts were involved in this scam.</p>.<p>"As the involvement of this petitioner has emerged upon investigation if the bail application is allowed, the investigation could not be proceeded with smoothly and effectively," they told the court. The lawyer appearing for Jose told the court that his client was innocent and he was falsely implicated due to political pressure.</p>.<p>"The loans were sanctioned without the recommendation of the Director Board members and the entire malpractice was committed by the accused Nos.1 to 6 without the knowledge of the Board of Directors," the petitioner's lawyer told the court.</p>.<p>The court, after hearing both sides, said there was no doubt that the nature and gravity of the accusations leveled against the petitioner-accused were "very serious and grave." "Prima facie it is revealed that this petitioner, a member of board of directors has colluded with the other accused to commit forgery, manipulation of accounts and to cheat the bank for wrongful gain.</p>.<p>Since huge amount is involved in this scam the investigating agency require time to unearth all the details involved in the case.</p>.<p>"Scientific examination with the help of technical experts is also required to ascertain the real gravity of the offence alleged against this petitioner as well the other accused," the court said.</p>.<p>However, in view of his health condition, the court granted him bail. Police had registered a case against six bank officials and launched an investigation after the scam was detected. After several people, including local customers raised apprehensions about the bank's functioning, an audit had been conducted in which the charges were reportedly found to be true.</p>.<p>During the inspection, it was also found that loans were sanctioned on the property pledged by local customers without their knowledge and the loan amount was credited multiple times to the selected accounts. The case was registered against bank officials, including the secretary of the bank, who were already placed under suspension following the allegations.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>