A division bench of the Bombay High Court has set up a three-member committee headed by retired High Court Judge, S Radhakrishnan for valuation and sale of all assets of the defaulting company, Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited which were mortgaged with the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank and submit the progress report before the next hearing listed on April 30.
The bench, comprising of Justice Ranjit More and S.P. Tavade, also directed the promoters Rakesh Wadhwan and his son who are in jail to be put under house arrest in order to ensure their co-operation in the recovery process.
This order was passed as a result of a PIL filed by Sarosh Damania before Bombay HC in which an order was passed for seeking auction of all Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) assets either mortgaged with the bank or attached by the Economic Offences Wing, Mumbai.
“We are conscious of the plight of lakhs of depositors who have deposited their hard-earned money and life savings in the PMC Bank. The respondents (Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan) are instrumental for the huge fraud perpetuated by them through HDIL and other companies,” the court said in its order.
Damania in his petition said normal court proceedings will take years to refund the dues of depositors, therefore directions were required for the speedy disposal of attached assets and properties. The Wadhawans are presently in judicial custody.
— India Legal Bureau