Supreme Court acquits bank manager, faults Indian Bank over unreturned auction proceeds

The Supreme Court has acquitted former bank manager V Balakrishnan in a 35-year-old loan dispute case. The verdict revealed that Indian Bank had failed to return ₹2.7 crore in excess auction proceeds to the heirs of borrowers.

The court's judgment shifted responsibility from the individual manager to the institutional lapses of the bank. The case centred on the bank's obligation to return surplus funds generated from the sale of mortgaged property after loan recovery.