Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Haryana Assembly Bhupinder Singh Hooda speaks during the budget session of the State Assembly in Chandigarh on February 23, 2026. | Photo credit: PTI
A day after IDFC First Bank Limited unearthed a ₹590 crore fraud linked to the accounts of the Haryana government, the opposition Congress Party on Monday (23 February 2026) raised the issue during the ongoing budget session in the State Assembly, even as Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said a detailed probe had been ordered into the case.
Vigilance by state government departments threw light on the issue following which the government immediately depaneled IDFC First Bank, the chief minister said. “The statements given by the bank did not tally with the records maintained by the concerned departments. The case has been handed over to the Anti-Corruption Bureau and instructions have also been issued to form a high-level committee to conduct a detailed investigation,” the CM told the House.
IDFC First Bank has written to the Securities and Exchange Board of India acknowledging the irregularities committed by some of the bank’s employees, Mr. Saini said, adding that the bank has also initiated action against the affected employees. “An FIR (First Information Report) has been registered in connection with the irregularities found in the bank’s transactions. The bank wrote a letter in this regard on February 21. However, even before the government took cognizance of the matter and deposed the bank on February 18, (the government) ordered that the entire amount with interest be transferred to a nationalized bank. Every rupee will be fully returned to the safe bank.
“The investigation will determine whether the irregularity was committed by an employee of the bank or whether it involved another person,” he added.
The practice of departments keeping funds in banks was not new, he said. “Even during the tenure of the Congress, the funds of the department were kept in banks. Banks are empaneled from time to time and new banks keep coming,” he said.
Earlier, the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, Bhupinder Singh Hooda of the Congress, raised the issue regarding IDFC’s first bank. “It is a massive fraud, carried out by manipulating the accounts of 18 government departments,” Mr Hooda said.
He also raised the issue of the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scheme replaced by the central government. “During the Congress rule, workers in Haryana were paid the highest wages in the country. But once the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) came to power, it attacked workers’ rights. After coming to power, the BJP started weakening MGNREGA,” Mr Hooda said.
Published – 23 Feb 2026 22:12 IST
