Delhi HC dismisses plea seeking investigation into alleged illegalities by Indiabulls

New Delhi, Feb 2 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a PIL seeking an investigation into alleged siphoning of funds by the promoters of Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited (IBHFL), its subsidiaries and their promoters.

A bench headed by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait said there was no merit in the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by NGO ‘Citizens Whistle Blower Forum’ and the allegations were not supported with evidence.

The petitioner alleged IBHFL and its owners were advancing dubious loans to companies owned by large corporate groups which in turn were routing the money back to the accounts of companies owned by the promoters of Indiabulls to increase their personal wealth.

The court observed the authorities were already examining the issue and a transfer of investigation to CBI or an SIT or any other agency can be done only in exceptional cases and not as a matter of routine.

“This Court is of the opinion that the allegations levelled by the petitioner are not substantiated as these are not supported by any evidence. The balance sheets or other material placed on record is already available on the website of these companies and is thus already in public domain. Not only a large portion of alleged loans were repaid by the respondent companies but also the loans were advanced against mortgages and securities furnished by the borrowers,” said the bench, also comprising Justice Neena Bansal Krishna.

“There is no dispute to the position that necessary investigation in the present case has already been carried out by NHB (National Housing Bank) and also the Ministry of Corporate Affairs is in the process of further investigation. Finding no merit in the present petition, it is accordingly dismissed,” the court said.

The court noted that to support its case, the petitioner relied upon certain news reports, one of which was also accepted to be “erroneous”.

“In the considered opinion of this Court, due to articles published in magazine and newspaper, the tweets made by member of the petitioner-firm or a Member of Parliament, the share holders of accused-companies were jolted and they were made to suffer huge losses,” the court remarked.

“It is settled position of law that the jurisdiction of investigation lies within the realm of investigating agency and a Court has no authority to interfere in the investigation until and unless there is grave miscarriage of justice or misuse of process of law,” stated the court.

The PIL, filed in 2019, alleged creation of a staggering number of dummy companies by Indiabulls and siphoning of thousands of crore rupees by the company’s officials.

The plea had sought direction to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to conduct an investigation through the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) into the alleged irregularities.

It also sought direction to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the National Housing Bank (NHB) to investigate the financial affairs of IBHFL and a special audit of its accounts.