NEW DELHI: The ED on Wednesday flagged serious irregularities in the financial transactions of Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd (IHFL), now known as Sammaan Capital Ltd , even as an NGO told the Supreme Court that the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) had condoned a litany of corporate governance irregularities by IHFL, brushing aside market regulator Sebi 's adverse reports.
Notwithstanding sneering objections to the allegations made by the NGO, Citizens' Whistleblowers Forum, from senior advocate Harish Salve, who was appearing for Indiabulls, a bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N K Singh asked a 'responsible officer' from MCA to remain present with the original files of IHFL in court on Nov 19. "We would like to see the original records of the ministry of corporate affairs relating to compounding of irregularities referred to by SEBI in its report. We would also like to know in which all cases you (MCA) have been so magnanimous in condoning corporate governance violations," the bench said.
Additional solicitor general S V Raju, along with advocate A Venkatesh Rao, told SC "there is something seriously wrong in this case." The bench directed ED to clarify the stand taken by CBI in an affidavit that there was prima facie evidence of money laundering activities by IHFL. It also asked the ED to explain the steps taken by it pursuant to the CBI affidavit.
For the NGO, Prashant Bhushan attempted to detail the allegedly surreptitious activities of IHFL in conspiracy with various realtors and banks. Salve termed the case as 'blackmail litigation' and said the petition was "nothing but a cut-paste of another similar petition which was dismissed by the Delhi HC." Salve said the entire loan amount advanced has been recovered, while A M Singhvi said seven agencies had investigated the cases against IHFL and given it a clean chit.
Bhushan recalled that a Justice Kant-led bench had recently permitted CBI to register FIRs against seven realtors for abusing the subvention scheme to defraud homebuyers, and said Indiabulls, in criminal conspiracy with the Vatika group, has similarly defrauded flat buyers, with Sebi giving a detailed report on these and other irregularities by IHFL to MCA, which instead compounded 200 acts of misdeeds.
The ED, in its probe status report, detailed the allegedly dubious deals of IHFL with Yes Bank and Dewan Housing Finance Corporation involving proceeds of crime (POC) worth Rs 5,333 crore; with Gautam Thapar-led Avantha group involving POC of Rs 307 cr; and with Americorp group that took loans worth Rs 9,480 cr from IHFL to invest in shares of Indiabulls to hike its price and earn profits worth Rs 532 crore.
Notwithstanding sneering objections to the allegations made by the NGO, Citizens' Whistleblowers Forum, from senior advocate Harish Salve, who was appearing for Indiabulls, a bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N K Singh asked a 'responsible officer' from MCA to remain present with the original files of IHFL in court on Nov 19. "We would like to see the original records of the ministry of corporate affairs relating to compounding of irregularities referred to by SEBI in its report. We would also like to know in which all cases you (MCA) have been so magnanimous in condoning corporate governance violations," the bench said.
Additional solicitor general S V Raju, along with advocate A Venkatesh Rao, told SC "there is something seriously wrong in this case." The bench directed ED to clarify the stand taken by CBI in an affidavit that there was prima facie evidence of money laundering activities by IHFL. It also asked the ED to explain the steps taken by it pursuant to the CBI affidavit.
For the NGO, Prashant Bhushan attempted to detail the allegedly surreptitious activities of IHFL in conspiracy with various realtors and banks. Salve termed the case as 'blackmail litigation' and said the petition was "nothing but a cut-paste of another similar petition which was dismissed by the Delhi HC." Salve said the entire loan amount advanced has been recovered, while A M Singhvi said seven agencies had investigated the cases against IHFL and given it a clean chit.
Bhushan recalled that a Justice Kant-led bench had recently permitted CBI to register FIRs against seven realtors for abusing the subvention scheme to defraud homebuyers, and said Indiabulls, in criminal conspiracy with the Vatika group, has similarly defrauded flat buyers, with Sebi giving a detailed report on these and other irregularities by IHFL to MCA, which instead compounded 200 acts of misdeeds.
The ED, in its probe status report, detailed the allegedly dubious deals of IHFL with Yes Bank and Dewan Housing Finance Corporation involving proceeds of crime (POC) worth Rs 5,333 crore; with Gautam Thapar-led Avantha group involving POC of Rs 307 cr; and with Americorp group that took loans worth Rs 9,480 cr from IHFL to invest in shares of Indiabulls to hike its price and earn profits worth Rs 532 crore.
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