Bank of Baroda declared Dighi Port chairman Vijay Kalantri as ‘wilful defaulter’

Bank of Baroda (BoB) has declared Dighi Port chairman and managing director Vijay Goverdhandas Kalantri as a wilful defaulter, The Times of India reported. Both Vijay Kalantri and his son Vishal Kalantri, director of Dighi Port, owe close to Rs 3,334 crore to a consortium of 16 banks in the country that include BoB, while Bank of India is the lead lender, the report said.

The duo had taken a number of loans from the bank to develop the port. Vijay Kalantri-owned Balaji Infra has 51.01 percent stake in Dighi Port, while Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) holds 39.37 percent stake in the company.

On June 2, the bank placed a notice in a Mumbai newspaper, with photos of Vijay Kalantri and his son Vishal Kalantri, declaring them as “wilful defaulters”.

“Notice is hereby given to the public at large that Vijaya Bank (now Bank of Baroda) has declared the following persons as wilful defaulters, in terms of the bank’s/RBI’s rules and regulations. 1) Dighi Port Limited, (borrower) 2) Vishal Vijay Kalantri, director and guarantor and 3) Vijay Goverdhandas Kalantri, director and guarantor. The bank has sent a suitable communication to the borrower/guarantor informing the decision of the bank to declare him/ them as a wilful defaulter. As permitted by the RBI, the bank publishes photos of the wilful defaulters for the information of the public at large,” the notice said.

Banks have been permitted by the RBI to use the photos of ‘wilful’ defaulters in newspaper advertisements for naming and shaming to in order to get recovery.

Earlier this year, in its effort to stop big economic offenders from running away from the country, the government gave power to PSU banks to request lookout circulars (LOCs) against wilful defaulters and fraudsters. The Ministry of Home Affairs also authorised Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), a statutory corporate fraud investigation agency, to request LOCs in case it feels the suspect may escape from the country. Get live Stock Prices from BSE and NSE and latest NAV, portfolio of Mutual Funds, calculate your tax by Income Tax Calculator, know market’s Top Gainers, Top Losers & Best Equity Funds. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.