Allahabad High Court
Chandrashekhar Vishwakarma And 8 ... vs Union Of India And 6 Others on 7 November, 2019
Bench: Sudhir Agarwal, Rajeev Misra
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD Court No. - 34 Case :- WRIT - C No. - 35845 of 2019 Petitioner :- Chandrashekhar Vishwakarma and 8 others Respondent :- Union of India and 6 others Counsel for Petitioner :- Jawahar Lal Maurya Counsel for Respondent :- A.S.G.I. Hon'ble Sudhir Agarwal,J.
Hon'ble Rajeev Misra,J.
1. Heard learned counsel for parties and perused the material on record.
2. It is evident from record that petitioner has made some investments in private company, i.e., respondent nos. 6 and 7 but repayment has defaulted. Thereafter, proceedings have been initiated before Securities and Exchange Board of India (for short, 'SEBI') and said Authority issued following directions:-
"8. In view of the foregoing, I, in exercise of the powers conferred upon me under Sections 11, 11(4), 11A and 11B of the SEBI Act,; the DIP Guidelines read with the ICDR Regulations and the Debt Securities Regulations; the Debenture Trustee Regulations, hereby issue the following directions-
i. WIL shall not mobilize funds from investors through the Offer of Preference Shares and Offer of NCDs or through the issuance of equity shares or any other securities, to the public and/or invite subscription, in any manner whatsoever, either directly or indirectly till further directions;
ii. WIL and its present Directors, viz. Shri Chand Mohan Ghosh (DIN: 02013676; PAN: AJFPG 5051P) and Shri Gopal Dalapati (DIN:01742768; PAN: AEFPD9926H) including its past Directors, viz. Shri Ramprosad Mondal (DIN: 05115858; PAN: ASPPM 3388N), Shri Sahajahan Khan (DIN: 02013659; PAN: AGRPK0125D), Shri Sanjay Kumar Das (DIN: 02016573; PAN: AGUPD 3964E), Shri Jadunath Jena (DIN: 03169961; PAN: ANUPJ8465D), Shri Mohammed Ariff Billa (DIN: 02738772: PAN: ADRPB8958J) and Shri Bhabagrahi Behera (DIN: 05113111; PAN: ASWPB3847N), are prohibited from issuing prospectus or any offer document or issue advertisement for soliciting money from the public for the issue of securities, in any manner whatsoever, either directly or indirectly, till further orders;
iii. WIL and its abovementioned Directors, are restrained from accessing the securities market and further prohibited from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in the securities market, either directly or indirectly, till further directions;
iv. WIL shall provide a full inventory of all its assets and properties;
v. WIL's abovementioned Directors shall provide a full inventory of all their assets and properties;
vi. WIL and its present Directors shall not dispose of any of the properties or alienate or encumber any of the assets owned/acquired by that company through the Offer of Preference shares and Offer of NCDs, without prior permission from SEBI;
vii. WIL and its present Directors shall not divert any funds raised from public at large through the Offer of Preference Shares and Offer of NCDs, which are kept in bank account(s) and/or in the custody of of WIL;
viii. WIL shall furnish complete and relevant information in respect of both preference shares and NCDs (as sought by SEBI letters dated November 2, 2012; July 9, 2013 and February 7, 2014) within 21 days from the date of receipt of this Order.
ix. Shri Hari Pada Seth is prohibited from continuing with his present assignment as a debenture trustee in respect of the Offer of NCDs of WIL and also from taking up any new assignment or involvement in any new issue of debentures, etc. in a similar capacity, from the date of this order till further directions.
9. The above directions shall take effect immediately and shall be in force until further orders.
10.1. The prima facie observations contained in this Order are made on the basis of the material available on record i.e. information obtained from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website i.e. 'MCA 21 Portal' along with documents annexed with the complaint dated November 11, 2013. In this context, WIL and its abovementioned Directors may, within 21 days from the date of receipt of this order, file their reply, if any, to this Order and may also indicate whether they desire to avail themselves an opportunity of personal hearing on a date and time to be fixed on a specific request made in that regard.
10.2 Similarly, the Debenture Trustee, viz. Shri Hari Pada Seth, may, within 21 days from the date of receipt of this Order, file its reply, if any, to this Order and may also indicate whether it desires to avail itself an opportunity of personal hearing on a date and time to be fixed on a specific request made in that regard.
11. This order is without prejudice to the right of SEBI to take any other action that may be initiated against WIL and its abovementioned Directors; its debenture trustee, viz. Shri Hari Pada Seth, in accordance with law."
2. In view thereof, we do not find that this Court can act as an executing authority in the matter. If petitioner is aggrieved, he may raise his grievance before the appellate authority constituted in respect of such matters.
3. Dismissed accordingly.
Order Date :- 7.11.2019 Ram Murti