Srinagar, Sep 5 (PTI) A case of over Rs 40-crore default on loan by the Jammu and Kashmir Housing Corporation (JKHC) has been referred to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for investigation, an official spokesman said on Saturday.

The case was referred by the Jammu and Kashmir administration to the ACB and the agency will probe it for any criminal misconduct, he said.

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Taking serious note of irregularities in the functioning of the corporation, the Union Territory's administration, in a significant decision, has also come up with a number of measures aimed to streamline the JKHC, the spokesman said.

The decision comes in the backdrop of a default of Rs 40.63 crore loan by the JKHC to the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), wherein the Jammu and Kashmir government was made the guarantor then, he said.

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The spokesman said it has been decided to have the case examined in detail so as to bring to the fore, the terms and conditions under which such a guarantee was given at that point in time and fix responsibility accordingly.

The entire matter will be thoroughly investigated by the ACB to pinpoint any criminal misconduct which may have been committed in the case, he said.

The spokesman said the default on a portion of the loan to HUDCO by the JKHC has led HUDCO to blacklist the government and as a consequence, HUDCO will not fund any other project in the Union Territory till the matter is settled.

Considering that the government has 70 per cent holding in capital of the JKHC, steps are being taken to secure control over the corporation to ensure that it is run in a fiscally prudent manner, maintaining high standards of propriety, he said.

With an aim to have complete oversight of the government over the functioning of the JKHC and to run it in a professional manner, it has been decided to bring in necessary amendments to Article of Association (AoA) or By-Laws of the Cooperative, the spokesman said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)