A studied silence maintained by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) over the alleged fraud of crores of rupees by a private insurance company has drawn Bombay High Court’s ire.
Acting on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in the high court, a division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and MS Sanklecha has asked IRDA to file its reply over the allegations of fraud by ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company in the central government’s ‘Rajiv Gandhi Shilpi Swasthya Bima Yojana’ and why no action was taken despite the letter asking for the same was sent by Rajya Sabha member Tapan Sen.
The PIL filed by Rajan Kshirsagar, activist of Lalbawta Shetmajoor Union, has alleged that ICICI Lombard enrolled fake members under the said scheme. “ICICI Lombard at the behest of its senior officials destroyed health cards, ostensibly to deny any prospective insurance claims,” said the PIL.
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“The fraud committed by the insurance company is not only against the government and poor artisans, who were to be benefited, but also against the common tax-payer. It is our money which we had paid to the central government through taxes and which was illegally taken by the company,” Mr. Kshirsagar told The Hindu.
The PIL noted that Mr. Sen, who is a Rajya Sabha member, had written to IRDA on December 21, 2012 detailing the specifics of fraud committed by ICICI Lombard and seeking corrective action on part of IRDA.