PNB loan: When Lal Bahadur Shastri's widow paid back his car debt

New Delhi : The Punjab National Bank has been making headlines recently for all the wrong reasons. A recent fraud by Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi has exposed major loopholes in the banking sector. Nirav Modi has moved out from India and has also hinted that there is minimal chance of repayment of hefty Rs 11000 crores.

But in the past Punjab National Bank had given a loan to ex-Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri that was repaid by his widow.

The loan given by Punjab National Bank amounted Rs 5000. This happened in 1964 when Lal Bahadur Shastri was Prime Minister of India and he wanted to buy a FIAT car that was costing Rs 12000. He had only Rs 7000 in his account so he took a loan of Rs 5000 from PNB. 

One year later, Lal Bahadur Shastri died a sudden death on January 11, 1966. In order to recover the unpaid amount, PNB wrote a letter to his widow, asking to replay the amount.

Lalita Shastri informed the bank that she will repay the amount from her husband's pension and it was indeed paid in full.

The FIAT car is now stationed at Lal Bahadur Shastri memorial at 1, Moti Nehru Marg in Delhi.