Indiabulls Group moves plea in High Court seeking recall of Notice Iissued on Fraud Probe

Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited (IBHFL) on Thursday moved an application in the Delhi HC for the recall of notice issued to it on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which seeks a probe into the mortgage lender.

Senior Lawyer Mukul Rohatagi appearing for Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited (IBHFL) told the court that when the notice was issued on the petition the shares of the company fell from ₹800 to ₹200. He alleged that the main purpose of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was to cause damage to the company which has already been done. He said that there's no case against the company complaining about cheating, fraud or default on demand.

'... our shareholders are getting affected by market volatility & the interests of the investors are also in jeopardy. We are a private company, we haven't cheated anyone." He said.

He further said that due to this Public Interest Litigation (PIL) the proposed merger between Lakshmi Vilas Bank & Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited got cancelled.

The court said that it will hear the application with the main writ petition on 29 Nov.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) through an affidavit also told the court that it is inspecting the complaints against the Indiabulls Group of companies.

On 9th Oct, the 1^st ever attempt by a non-bank lender to merge with a bank in the country got rejected by Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

The petition has been filed by an organization called Citizens Whistle Blower Forum (CWBF), a registered organization working to provide a platform to whistle-blowers across the country.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeks “an in-depth, thorough & time-bound investigation" by a special investigation team, alleging serious illegalities, violations & siphoning committed by the promoters of Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited (IBHFL), its subsidiaries & their promoters. The petitioner also sought directions to the ministry of corporate affairs, registrar of companies (RoC), serious fraud investigation office (SFIO), National Housing Bank (NHB), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), & Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to take action against Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited (IBHFL) & its promoters/owners.

The petitioner wanted the ministry of corporate affairs to conduct an investigation through the serious fraud investigation office (SFIO) into the alleged irregularities. It also wants the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) & National Housing Bank (NHB) to investigate the financial affairs of Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited (IBHFL) & direct a special audit of the lender.

It has also sought for a direction to Sebi to conduct a thorough enquiry & investigation into the affairs of Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited (IBHFL)

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