Top officials of the Reserve Bank of India, along with chiefs of select public sector banks, will meet Central Bureau of Investigation and Central Vigilance Commission top brass next week to find a solution to the fear among bankers that they may be hauled up even after retirement in case their loan evaluations go haywire. Decision-making, especially on credit matters, in public sector banks has slowed down after the CBI and CVC opened old cases and hauled up a few bankers. The All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), in a statement, claimed that "the present state of affairs in public sector banks is due to undue interference by outside agencies, particularly CBI and CVC, questioning bona fide decisions. "Ironically, bankers, who are victims of frauds committed by borrowers/unscrupulous persons, are made the accused and are being criminally prosecuted. This has led to the indecisive attitude of officials and, consequently, banks' functioning is presently paralysed." The Confederation emphasised that there is a need to distinguish between the lapses committed by staff and advantage thereof taken by borrowers in committing fraud on the one hand and staff being party to the fraud. The former case warrants departmental action whereas the latter case calls for both departmental and criminal action. It claimed that there are numerous cases where disciplinary authorities in banks are being pressured by the CBI to give permission for prosecuting the staff though the bank is fully convinced that staff decision was based on commercial considerations and not on vested interest. "Bank officials are maltreated and threatened. Bankers are more vulnerable after retirement because CBI does not need any permission for prosecuting retired banker," alleged the Confederation.