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New Delhi, Nov 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Wednesday rapped several investigating agencies for adopting a “friendly attitude” in probing allegations of financial “illegalities” involving Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd (IHFL), now renamed Samman Capital Ltd.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi remarked that it is “deeply concerned” by the slow and inconsistent pace of action by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) despite the seriousness of the allegations raised in the pending petition filed by the Citizen Whistle Blower Forum (CWBF).
Noting that the Centre’s agencies do not seem eager to proceed further, a bench led by Justice Kant said the apex court is concerned about the pace of investigation. It said SEBI, in particular, should avoid “double standards” and act decisively in cases involving suspected financial irregularities and potential losses to investors.
The bench led by Justice Kant remarked that SEBI has full authority to investigate the allegations and should take action without any hesitation. Pressuring the CBI to move ahead with the preliminary investigation, the apex court questioned the investigating agency as to why no FIR has been registered so far. Filing of the FIR will enable the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to effectively investigate the money-laundering aspect of the case, it remarked.
During the hearing, the ED assured the Supreme Court that it would convene a joint coordination meeting with the CBI, SEBI and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) within two weeks. CWBF has filed a petition before the apex court seeking a thorough, thorough and time-bound investigation by the SIT into various serious “illegalities”, including round-tripping of funds, violation of provisions of the Companies Act and misappropriation of funds committed by the promoters of Indiabulls Housing Finance, its subsidiaries and their promoters.
The petition claimed that many of the companies, which received large loans from the firm, had small paid-up capital, overlapping directors, common office addresses and no actual business activities.
In the earlier hearing, senior lawyers Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the promoters, had denied all the allegations terming the claims as “fictitious”, while the CBI had earlier informed the apex court that the agency had not found any irregularities in the disbursement of loans to corporate entities by IHFL.
The Supreme Court has now directed officials including CBI, ED, SEBI and SFIO to submit the report by the next date of hearing, December 17.
After the sharp comments of the apex court, shares of Samman Capital closed at Rs 158.40 on Wednesday, down by Rs 24.36 or 13.33 per cent. In a press statement, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, counsel for Samman Capital, said: “There are no allegations against Samman Capital in the present petition before the Supreme Court.
The court noted the concerns raised about previous promoter Sameer Gehlot, who has no shareholding or involvement in the company today. The court has clarified in its order that it has not made any comment on the merits of these allegations and has only allowed the authorities to re-investigate the case.
The statement said, “We have no objection to this process. Since there is no allegation from any authority against Samman Capital, we are fully prepared for any investigation that the agencies would like to conduct – once, twice or even thrice. We have nothing to hide.”
–IANS
PDS/UK