NEW DELHI :In the aftermath of the securities scam which has revealed the outrageously dis Proportionate (68%) participation of a few US and British banks in speculative securities transactions new information has begun trickling in about these tanks” linkages with top Indian bureaucrats. The Janakiraman panel which has identified the role of the Anglo: American banks in securities transactions is now probing these linkages funher to assess the benefits which might have accrued to the foreign banks as a result.

High on the lst of the active and retired bureaucrats connected to the foreign banks is former cabinet secretary P.K .Kaul whose daughter Ranjan works with ANZ Grindlays Bank the British bank which accounted for securities transaction worth Rs 79497 crore in the 14 months between April 1, 1991 and June 1992. Ranjana was employed by the bank when Kaul was the finance secretary to the Union Government. Besides Ranjanas husband Vijay Sood is employed by Hong Kong Merchant Bank in Bombay.

Also significant i the connection between Grindlays Bank and VP Sawhney labor secretary and Suresh Kumar secretary Industries and Public Enterprises. Sawhney son Rohit who is now employed with Grindlays Bank in Calcutta got the job when his father was additional secretary Banking in the Finance Ministry Kumar’s daughter Sujata also works at Grindlays It may be noted that both Sawhney and Kumar are now on the Krishnamurthy Committee which is working out the modalities of divestment of Public Sector Enterprise (PSE) shares to the investing public The Janakiraman panel has reported active transaction through brokers of the bundles GE PSE there’s already obtained through divestment Besides SBI Cap and Allahabad Bank (operating through Citibank) ANZ Grindlays also had a role to play in the transaction of PSE bundles. Equally intriguing is the Appointment of Ajay Khosta son of ONGC chairman S.L.Khosla with American Express Bank. It is specially so in view of the fact that ONGC has deposited its cash reserve worth Rs 300 crore with American Express. The American bank-cum-travel-agency also has on its rolls the son-of S.K. Bhatnagar former defence secretary and an accused in the HDW submarine deal case.

The other US bank to be on a hiring spree of bureaucrats children was Citibank the single largest agency in the previous 14 months security transactions accounting for a quarter of the entire volume. Its employees include Monica daughter of the late M J. Pherwani chairman of NHB. Whose dubious dealings with bull operator Harshad Mehta triggered investigation into the scam Mahim Mehra son of former 1&B secretary Girish Mehra Mahim who landed the job during his fathers present tenure at the Indian High Commissioner in Canada is now employed with Citibank Calcutta.

The son of Gopi K. Arora the Indian director on the IMF Board has also joined Citibank in New York. Aroras son is engaged to the daughter of J.ML. Bajaj a senior IAS officer belonging to the Uttar Pradesh cadre who had worked as in-charge of the Fund Bank division of the Finance Ministry when Arora was the secretary to the ministry.

Further details of the kith and kin of VIP bureaucrats on the payrolls of foreign banks which are pouring in now include-Rajesh Ahuja son of a senior Reserve Bank of India (RBI director who works for Bank of America (share in securities transaction 16.73%) charu narayan daughter of the senior IAS officer R.C. Arora working with ANZ Crindlays Alok Gupta son of BIFR chairman R.R. Gupta (secretary expenditure till recently) employed with Hong Kong Bank; and Namita Lal daughter of S.K.Lal senior commissioner of income Tax on the staff of Standard Chartered Bank (share of securities transaction 18.43%).

Besides there are many topnotch bankers and public sector chiefs whose children were on the staff of foreign tanks of sill are at those times when important deals were struck between those Indian banks or public undertakings and the concemed foreign banks. Admitting a serious “ethical lapse” on the part of senior bureaucrats in their private relations with foreign banks an RBI official hinted that a separate regulation might be framed to prevent possible influence peddling in future.

Article extracted from this publication >> July 24, 1992