Punjab government owned Piccadily Sugars Tuesday said Haryana Excise and Taxation Minister Venod Sharma, who has been linked to the company, was not a bank defaulter as a bank employees' federation had claimed.

The company's Director (Finance) Harvinder Chopra said Sharma was neither a director in the company nor held any position in it.

The Punjab Bank Employees Federation had named the minister as a defaulter in a list released Monday.

Chopra said the federation's claim that Sharma and the company owed over Rs.280.76 million to a bank was false.

He produced a certificate from the concerned bank saying that the company had no outstanding as on March 31, 2005. The bank said the company was paying its dues according to a settlement agreement.