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New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has received appreciation from the Supreme Court for its consistent and successful efforts in restoring the properties of innocent home buyers caught in a Rs 1,267.79 crore fraud case involving a leading bank, and possession of their residential units indefinitely delayed.
The case pertains to the Syndicate Bank fraud (2011-16) involving Bharat Bam and others, who defrauded the bank of Rs 1,267.79 crore. The main accused, Bharat Bam, used the proceeds of crime to acquire Royal Raj Vilas as well as its developer, M/s Udaipur World Entertainment Private Limited. Ltd. and created a complex web of illegal financial transactions, causing home buyers to be delayed and deprived of their flats.
The ED started an investigation in 2016, attached the properties of the accused and fought a legal battle to punish fraudulent developers and restore the rights of home buyers.
The agency’s probe into financial irregularities and money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002 earned praise from the top court.
The matter first came to light in the FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Bharat Bam and others. According to its charge sheet, the accused misappropriated Rs 1267.79 crore through companies and firms existing in their names or those of their family members.
The ED initiated a bank fraud investigation under PMLA, 2002 on 11 June 2016 and issued orders to attach a total of 365 unsold flats/units of inventory, 17 commercial units and two plots.
M/s Udaipur World Entertainment Pvt. The corporate debtor Ltd was admitted into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai on April 16, 2021, after a petition was filed by home buyers under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016.
In 2022, the NCLT approved the company’s resolution plan and quashed the ED’s attachment order, leading to a jurisdictional dispute.
The ED, in its argument, claimed that the NCLT does not have the authority to quash an order under Section 8 of the PMLA, 2002.
The apex court, in its order dated October 10, 2025, lauded the efforts of the ED in “restoring the attached properties and safeguarding the interests of genuine and innocent home buyers”.
–IANS
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