The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued a stay order on the case alleging forgery, cheating and falsifying the books of accounts between 2009 and 2010 involving Pawan Munjal, the Executive Chairman of Hero MotoCorp, and three other company officials.
The Delhi High Court is scheduled to resume the hearing on the Hero MotoCorp cheating case on December 6.
About the case
On October 5, Brain Logistics Pvt Ltd initiated a legal case against India's largest two-wheeler manufacturer, accusing them of forgery, cheating, and falsifying their accounting records. This legal action comes as a result of Brain Logistics providing manpower and related services only until March 2009, after which Hero MotoCorp did not renew their contract.
According to the filed First Information Report (FIR), the accused individuals allegedly fabricated bills totaling 59.45 million rupees between 2009 and 2010. These bills were purportedly signed and stamped with Hero MotoCorp's approval. Subsequently, the accused parties also allegedly manipulated Brain Logistics' accounting records to establish a false debit balance against the complainant company. These fabricated bills were apparently used to fraudulently obtain a Central Value Added Tax credit amounting to 5.55 million rupees.
However, Brain Logistics claims they did not issue any bills to Hero MotoCorp between 2009 and 2010. Moreover, Brain Logistics contends that their existence as a company only commenced on or after July 28, 2011, which notably occurred after the separation of Hero and Honda Motors of Japan. Hero Honda originally began its operations in 1984 as a joint venture between Hero Cycles of India and Honda of Japan.
Hero MotoCorp has taken the matter to the high court, seeking to quash the FIR. They argue that Roop Darshan Pandey, the promoter of Brain Logistics, is currently involved in a civil dispute, and that the issue should be resolved by an arbitrator rather than through criminal proceedings.
Hero MotoCorp shares
The shares of Hero MotoCorp fell at 2:08 pm IST after the news broke out and were trading at Rs 3,088.55, down by 0.40 percent.