Chandigarh, March 25 An FIR has been filed in connection with alleged discrepancies in fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) held by the Panchkula Municipal Corporation at a Kotak Mahindra Bank branch, amounting to nearly Rs 150 crore.
The Haryana State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SVACB) filed the FIR on Tuesday night, accusing unnamed bank officials and others of cheating, conspiracy, and other offenses. The Haryana government had decided to refer the case to the SVACB.
The municipal corporation claims a multi-crore mismatch between its official records and the records reflected by the Panchkula branch of Kotak Mahindra Bank.
According to Vinay Kumar, Commissioner of the Panchkula Municipal Corporation (PMC), the discrepancies involve FDRs totaling nearly Rs 150 crore.
In a statement on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Kotak Mahindra Bank said that a detailed reconciliation of fixed deposits and linked bank accounts maintained by the municipal corporation was carried out, and that "based on records examined so far, accounts and transactions were handled in strict adherence to due process and applicable banking norms."
The FIR follows the Haryana government's decision to refer the case to the SVACB on Tuesday to file an FIR concerning the non-reconciliation of funds and to conduct a thorough investigation into the discrepancies related to the FDRs of the Panchkula Municipal Corporation, as well as the bank accounts maintained with Kotak Mahindra Bank in Sector-11, Panchkula.
The FIR was registered at the ACB police station in Panchkula under sections 316 (5) and (4) of the Haryana Police Act (criminal breach of trust and cheating), 336 (3) and (3) (forgery), 338 (forgery of valuable security, will etc), 340 (forged document or electronic record), and 61 (criminal conspiracy) under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988's sections 13 (2) and 13 (1) (a).
According to the FIR, the Panchkula Municipal Corporation (PMC) maintains 16 FDRs amounting to Rs 145,03,41,704 (over Rs 145 crore) with a maturity value of Rs 158,02,36,420 (over Rs 158 crore) at Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sector-11, Panchkula.
Eleven of these FDRs, amounting to Rs 59,57,67,709 (over Rs 59 crore), matured on February 16, 2026.
"Furthermore, according to the bank statement dated March 16, the balance as of March 13 is reflected as Rs 2,17,74,394 (over Rs 2.17 crore) as opposed to the expected balance of Rs 50,00,24,463 (over Rs 50 crore)," the FIR states.
"Furthermore, the bank has informed that there are no outstanding Term Deposits and that the balance in the account as of March 18 is Rs 12,85,93,603.86 (over Rs 12 crore)," the FIR states.
"However, according to the office records, the Panchkula Municipal Corporation maintains 16 FDRs with Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sector-11, Panchkula, amounting to Rs 145,03,41,704 with a maturity value of Rs 158,02,36,420 which is not in accordance with the information provided by the bank," the FIR states.
According to the FIR, this indicates that the records are "completely inconsistent" and that there is "every reason to believe that the bank has committed financial irregularities."
The PMC has also constituted a committee to examine the matter regarding the reconciliation and verification of all FDRs and bank statements maintained with the branch.
The corporation has undertaken a thorough and detailed verification exercise as per the instructions issued by the Finance Department of Haryana vide memos dated February 18 and March 17.
"During the course of reconciliation and interaction with the Kotak Mahindra Bank authorities, significant discrepancies have been observed between the FDRs recorded in office records and the balance/records reflected by the bank," the FIR states.
"Furthermore, additional bank accounts which were not reflected in the official records, have also come to light during the verification process," the SVACB FIR further states.
Two accounts were being operated with Kotak Mahindra Bank in Sector-11, Panchkula, the FIR states.
"However, during verification, two additional accounts have also been reported by the bank, which are not reflected in the office record," the FIR states.
"The inconsistencies in the bank statements, along with the existence of these previously unrecorded accounts, raises serious concerns regarding the correctness and integrity of the financial records, maintained by the bank vis-à-vis the office records of Municipal Corporation, Panchkula," it states.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Kotak Mahindra Bank said, "Following instructions from the Municipal Corporation of Panchkula, Kotak Mahindra Bank initiated a detailed reconciliation of fixed deposits and linked bank accounts maintained by the Municipal Corporation.
"As part of this exercise, the Bank has confirmed, based on records examined so far, that all account opening processes, KYC documentation, authorised signatories and instructions received from the Municipal Corporation were in order, and that the accounts and transactions were handled in strict adherence to due process and applicable banking norms."