Mumbai: The NCLT has issued contempt notices to the heads of Axis Bank and StandardC for allowing the former head of ILFS Financial Services Ramesh Chandra Bawa to withdraw money and access the lockers in breach of its orders, and directed them to reply in two weeks. The tribunal posted the matter for further hearing on June 7.
The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) issued contempt notices to Axis Bank chief executive Amitabh Chaudhry, Standard Chartered Bank India chief executive Zarin Daruwala and Bawa after the corporate affairs ministry alleged that the banks facilitated Bawa to withdraw/transfer money from their accounts to his wife Ashakiran and daughter Akansha, apart from letting him access the lockers.
Ministry’s counsel Sanjay Shorey, in a separate petition, also sought to implead Ashakiran and Akansha as they are the beneficiaries of these funds. The ministry informed the tribunal that Bawa withdrew/ transferred Rs 1 crore and Rs 14 lakh from Axis Bank accounts in two instances which are in violation of the December 3, 2018 order of the tribunal which had frozen these accounts. The counsel also said Bawa accessed his lockers with these bank four times since December 3.
Shorey also said Bawa withdrew money from ICICI Bank but is not impleading the bank it as it had happened on the same day. On December 3, the ministry had mailed a petition to Bawa at 8 am but despite that he withdrew Rs 3 cr from his accounts from an ICICI Bank branch at 10 am, he said. “
But we are not including ICICI Bank in the petition as the hearing was still on when the money was withdrawn. But all the banks, including Axis Bank and StanC, were informed about the NCLT order on December 6 and still these two allowed Bawa to transfer the funds,” Shorey explained.
To sell stake in China asset ITNL International Pte Ltd, the international subsidiary of IL&FS Transport Networks, has invited Expression of Interests (EoI) for acquisition of its 49 per cent stake in China’s Chongqing Yuhe Expressway Company Ltd. ITNL International is incorporated in Singapore and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd,
which in turn is a subsidiary of the cashstrapped IL&FS. Chongqing Yuhe Expressway Company Ltd currently holds a concession for a toll-based expressway of approximately 58.72 km in China mainland, over which it has the right to collect toll from users, an IL&FS statement said.
