SUMIT SHARMA
Jammu: In the latest development of the much-hyped Jammu and Kashmir Insurance Scam, the Arbitration Proceedings have been started between Reliance General Insurance Private Limited (RGIPL) and Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir as the later demanded around ₹ 35 crore back from the Insurance Company.
The Arbitration Tribunal comprises three judges’ bench (two retired judges from the Supreme Court and one from the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh) issued summons to J&K UT through the Finance Department and sought the presence of officials of the Finance Department and Anti-Corruption Bureau for response.
The Jammu and Kashmir Finance Department sought money back on the recommendation of the Anti-Corruption Bureau- the probing agency. The ACB during the probe found that out of ₹ 63 crore given to the insurance Company, the JK Government has to take back around 35 to 40 crores from it.
The probe agency found that out of the given amount, the medical claims of about ₹ 20 crore have been disbursed by the Insurance Company apart from the company’s administrative expenses which goes around 10 crores.
As the Jammu and Kashmir Finance Department shot a letter to the Reliance General Insurance Company, it filed an Arbitration Petition. The hearing of the Arbitration Tribunal has been fixed from 1st May which will continue till 7 May in Jammu.
Pertinently, the scam hit the Jammu and Kashmir which eventually led to the probe relates to “fraudulent” awarding of tender of Group Mediclaim insurance policy for J&K government employees, PSU employees, pensioners to Reliance General Insurance Pvt. Ltd (RGIPL) and Trinity Reinsurance Brokers Private Limited (TRBL).
It was alleged that the tender for engagement of IRDAI registered insurance company was awarded through TRBL to the said insurance Company (RGIPL) which was already blacklisted by the Chhattisgarh government by modification and deletion of essential eligibility criteria.
Later CBI Srinagar Branch filed FIR after former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik had claimed that he was offered bribes to clear files including for awarding contracts for a group medical insurance scheme for government employees.
Malik had claimed that he was offered a multi crore bribe for clearing two files, including one relating to the alleged insurance scam, during his tenure as the Jammu and Kashmir governor between August 23, 2018, and October 30, 2019.
On January 18,2024, the Enforcement Directorate attached fixed deposits and a land worth more than Rs 36 crore belonging to two companies — Reliance General Insurance Pvt. Ltd. and Trinity Reinsurance Brokers Private Limited — as part of a money laundering probe linked to an alleged insurance scam in Jammu and Kashmir.
