Overview

• Special CBI judge A V Gujarathi discharged former PNB executive director K V Brahmaji Rao in an order dated September 3, later made available on Tuesday.
• The court said there was no evidence Rao received illegal gratification or participated in a conspiracy, so criminal liability could not be fastened.
• Rao’s supervisory role covered more than 7,000 branches, and the judge called it humanly impossible to monitor every transaction as the fraud was localised at PNB’s Brady House branch.
• The ruling criticized the CBI’s pick-and-choose approach and noted the RBI’s 2018 complaint named other senior officials, while implementation of the 2016 SWIFT audit directive lay with the IT division and was approved by the MD & CEO.
• Rao is the first among roughly 25 accused to be discharged, and proceedings continue against the remaining individuals and entities in the Rs 23,000-crore case.