Indiabulls Moves Application Seeking Withdrawal Of Notice In A PIL By Whistle Blowers Forum

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing on behalf of the Indiabulls, moved an application seeking withdrawal of notice issued to Indiabulls and passing an order dismissing the writ petition.

Mr Rohatgi argued that the present petition is not maintainable as Indiabulls is a private entity, thus, a PIL under Article 226 of the Constitution cannot be invoked against it.

It was also pointed out by Mr Rohatgi that there's no case complaining about cheating, fraud or default on demand by Indiabulls. He argued that the present PIL has been filed to malign the image of the housing finance company. He said:

'... our shareholders are getting affected by market volatility and the interests of the investors are also in jeopardy'

Mr Rohatgi also pointed out that the present petition has been copied from the one filed by the Abhay Yadav which was withdrawn from the Supreme Court.

The Division Bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Hari Shankar noted that hearing this application would be as good as hearing the main PIL. Therefore, the court ordered both the application moved by Indiabulls and the main PIL to be heard together on November 29.

Filed by Citizens Whistle Blowers Forum, this PIL seeks an in-depth, thorough and time bound investigation by a SIT into various serious illegalities, violations and siphoning committed by the promoters of Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited (IBHFL), its subsidiaries and their promoters.

The Petition has also demanded directions to be issued to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Registrar of Companies (ROC), Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), National Housing Bank (NHB), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to take action against IBHFL and its promoters/owners.

In their plea, the Forum has alleged that IBHFL through its promoters and their various group companies and subsidiary companies has been advancing dubious loans to companies owned by large corporate groups which in turn have been routing the money back to the accounts of companies owned by the promoters of Indiabulls, so as to increase their personal wealth.

In the previous hearing, the court had issued notices to IndiaBulls Housing Finance Limited (IBHFL), SEBI, RBI and other respondents to file their replies to the averments made in the present PIL.