TNPID authorities may arrest directors of firm: Madras HC

Chennai: The Madras high court has clarified that the Tamil Nadu Protection of Interest of Depositors authorities may arrest the Directors of Disc Assets Lead (India) Ltd, which allegedly cheated over 9 lakh depositors to the tune of Rs 760 crore, if they deem it appropriate to do so and the criminal proceedings may take its own course against the company and its erstwhile Directors, notwithstanding its orders. 

The First Bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose dismissed the petitions filed by the Directors of the company, seeking a stay of the operation and/or modification of the order of the court dated October 11, 2017, as also the petition moved in the vacation against the letter of the Committee, headed by Justice N. Paul Vasanthakumar, a retired Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir high court.

Originally, the company floated land purchase schemes and collected Rs 1137 crore from about 12 lakh investors and allegedly cheated them. The company claimed that it had settled the dues of 3 lakh investors amounting to Rs 500 crore and there were 9.50 lakh investors, whose dues to the tune of Rs 761 crore were yet to be settled. In June 2016, the Economic Offences wing police had registered an FIR which had given rise to criminal proceedings under various provisions of IPC and TNPID Act.

On a PIL filed by and on behalf of investors, the bench had appointed a Committee headed by Justice N. Paul Vasanthakumar to identify the properties of the company and its directors, sell the same and pay the depositors on pro-rata basis if the amounts realised were not sufficient to settle the claims of all depositors in full. The bench also gave several directions to the Committee. Pursuant to which, the Committee had issued a letter to the company calling for the original documents of the immovable properties. One of the directors Uma Shankar moved the vacation court and obtained a stay. Meanwhile, the directors filed the present petitions to stay and/or modify the earlier order dated October 11, 2017, which directed them to deposit Rs 10 lakh each for the expenses required for implementation of the earlier order and also to provide all facilities to the Committee.

Vacating the stay, the bench, pulled up the directors for moving the vacation court and said, “The filing of the application in vacation was, prima facie, contumacious and a deliberate attempt at forum-hunting to try and get an order from a different bench”.

Referring to the submissions that there being an enactment in place, that was, TNPID Act, this court ought not to have appointed a Committee, the bench said there can be no dispute with the proposition that special law will prevail over the general provisions in case of any conflict. “We do not find any conflict between our order and the TNPID Act. Our order has been passed with a view to expediting settlement of the dues of investors  depositors who have invested huge amounts of money. The FIR has been kept alive. The TNPID authorities have not been restrained from proceeding under the TNPID Act”, the bench added.