Devendra Fadnavis

Axis Bank

State Bank of India

Jayant Patil

Enforcement Directorate

Finance Minister Jayant Patil

Axis Bank was among a group of banks that were empanelled by the Congress-NCP regime. If somebody in the government thinks they can defame my govt just because my wife works in the bank, that’s not going to happen Devendra Fadnavis

Former CM’s wife holds a senior position atAxis Bank, which counts among the top five private sector banks in the country, will soon lose a high-value customer -- the Maharashtra government – which operates the police department salary accounts with the bank. The Uddhav Thackeray-led government wants to transfer the accounts to a nationalised bank, and a decision to this effect is likely to be taken after the Cabinet expansion at the end of the month.The state police department employs more than two lakh personnel, and their annual salary bill is over Rs 11,000 crore. The entire department’s salary accounts were earlier with the, before a majority of these were shifted to Axis Bank around the time the Devendra Fadnavis-led government took over in the state.Finance Minister, from the NCP, confirmed that the government was “considering” a proposal to disburse salaries and grants only through nationalised banks. The cops’ salary accounts with Axis Bank raised a storm when a Nagpur-based activist, Mohnish Jabalpure, petitioned the(ED) in August this year claiming the accounts were shifted at the behest of the then chief minister Fadnavis. Amruta Fadnavis is the vice-president and corporate head (Western India) at Axis Bank.Jabalpure claimed that while Axis Bank benefitted from the move, it caused a huge loss to the State Bank of India.Fadnavis’s resignation even as the latter claimed the accounts were opened in Axis Bank in March 2005, eight months before he wed Amruta. A government source said that the threeparty Uddhav Cabinet was “on the same page” regarding the issue. “Moving away from Axis Bank is definitely on the cards. It will be done after all departments get ministers,” the source said.Fadnavis clarified that Axis Bank, and all other banks that dealt with the government accounts, were selected and empanelled by the previous Congress-NCP government. “If somebody in the government thinks they can defame my government just because my wife works in the bank, that’s not going to happen. My wife has not visited a government office or met with a government official in five years,” he said.Axis Bank didn’t directly comment on the development. A statement by the bank’s executive director, Rajesh Dahiya, said: “Axis Bank is a responsible banking and financial institute of the country. Services to uniformed forces -- both the army as well as police forces -- has been an area of focus and pride for Axis Bank, which we will continue to invest in aggressively across the country and states. We are extremely proud of this relationship based on trust and highest standards of Service.”