CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered a CBI probe into an alleged bank loan fraud and illegal sale of the hypothecated machinery committed by Padmaadevi Sugars Limited in Kancheepuram running into Rs 100 crore.
The order was passed by Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy on a petition filed by Mylapore-based Srinidhi Finance Private Limited, one of the creditors of the firm.
The petitioner approached the court after the CBI refused to register an FIR, initially citing lack of adequate documents, declaration of the factory’s bank accounts as fraudulent and the government’s withdrawal of consent to CBI to register cases. It alleged that the factory was under liquidation but had been selling the hypothecated machinery in a stealthy manner.
The CBI shall register a case based on the complaint filed by Indian Overseas Bank on August 3, 2022, and other banks and the information they have furnished; and the preliminary enquiry shall be completed within three weeks, the judge ordered. He also ordered the CBI to file the final report within a year’s time.
“Given the facts and circumstances of the case, where the amount involved is said to be around `100 crore worth of plant and machinery that is said to be sold and the amounts misappropriated, I am of the view that this is a fit case to be entrusted to the first respondent for investigation,” Justice Chakravarthy said in the recent order.
Referring to the sale of the hypothecated machinery, the judge directed the CBI to book cases for cheating, and in the case of any officials colluding with the firm for undue pecuniary benefits, sections of Prevention of Corruption Act shall be slapped on them.