BOB ED to handle functions of MD, CEO SC to place interim measures to protect PMC depositors on Friday

■ Depositors’ interest will be safeguarded: PMC administrator to RBI

Bank of Baroda said financial, administrative and other functions of its MD & CEO is to be looked after by respective executive directors till the appointment of new head. P. S. Jayakumar ceased to be the bank's MD & CEO with effect from Oct. 12. IOB’s board of directors and the management committee, as the case may be, may entrust to look after financial and administrative powers, it said. New Delhi/Mumbai, Oct. 16: As crisis-hit PMC bank depositors intensified their protests, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear on Friday an urgent plea seeking directions for interim measures to safeguard the money of customers blocked in the bank.

The plea on Wednesday for the apex court to step in amid 3 deaths linked to the crisis in the Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank came even as the bank’s administrator met the RBI’s top brass including Governor Shaktikanta Das and assured depositors that all efforts will be made to safeguard their interests.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed restrictions on the bank following the discovery of a Rs 4,355-crore scam. The limit on deposit withdrawals that has now been capped at Rs 40,000 over a sixmonth period has caused panic and distress among the depositors.

A Mumbai court, meanwhile, remanded two top HDIL officials and the PMC’s ex- Chairman in judicial custody till Oct. 23 in connection with the scam.

Outside the court, several depositors protested demanding that their money be returned. There were also protests by the depositors outside the RBI in Delhi.

In Mumbai, J. B. Bhoria, who was placed as the bank’s administrator last month by the RBI, released a press statement after his meeting with the RBI’s top brass.

“It was assured that the

bank will make all efforts to safeguard the interests of depositors and other stakeholders,” it said.

In a related development, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police called Surjit Singh