Mumbai: Observing that it was conscious of the plight of the depositors of the crisis-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) bank, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday constituted a three-member committee to sell the encumbered properties of promoters of the Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) group.
The HC has appointed Justice (retd.) S Radhakrishan as the head of the committee and has asked him to appoint the other two members.
The court has asked this panel to first do the valuation of the encumbered properties and then sell the same so as to repay the dues to the depositors and other stake holders.
A bench of Justices Ranjit More and Surendra Tavade has set the deadline as April 30, when this panel is asked to submit its report. Meanwhile, the bench also ordered the release of HDIL owners – Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan from the Arthur road prison.
The bench said the father-son duo would now be kept in their house at suburban Bandra, wherein they would help the committee in valuation of their properties and in selling off the same. The duo would be looked after by two jail guards, the bench said.
“We are conscious of the plight of lakhs of depositors who have deposited their hard earned money and life savings in this bank. The duo accused is instrumental for the huge fraud perpetuated through the HDIL group and other firm,” Justice More said.
The bench further said, “Thus, we are constituting this panel which would first value the encumbered properties and sell the same. If there is any shortfall for repaying the dues, then the unencumbered properties, owned by the Wadhawans should be sold.”
The bench was seized with public interest litigation (PIL) filed by an advocate, Sarosh Damania, seeking an immediate sale of the assets owned by HDIL group's director Sarang Wadhavan.
These assets are presently in the custody of the city police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Notably, both Sarang and Rakesh have already filed an affidavit giving a 'no objection' to the selling of the properties.
