MUMBAI: The Debt Recovery Tribunal-I (DRT-I) has ordered the auction of a prime property belonging to fugitive diamantaire Nirav D. Modi in one of the cases filed by PNB to recover a part of their whopping outstanding of over Rs 2,133-crore.
As per the order from the Mumbai DRT-I, HCL House in Marol shall be put up for e-auction on Sept 23, with a reserve price of Rs 52 crore, against the huge amounts dues since nearly 5 years to the PNB and 15 more banks. The Recovery Officer Ajeet Tripathi's order dated August 11 said, "Proclamation of sale under Rules 38, 52(2) of the second schedule to the Income Tax Act, 1961 read with the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993."
The litigation pits Nirav Modi's group firm Firestar International Ltd. and several well-known or unknown organisations against PNB and 15 other public and private sector banks in order to recover the debt. The infamous PNB scandal, which included over Rs 14,000 crore and broke out in the Indian banking industry in February 2018, almost a month after Modi, his wife Ami, and others fled the country, is being recovered as part of a process started by several banks (January 2018).
Following a complaint from the PNB, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed the first charges in January 2018. Other agencies, including the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate, joined in, pursuing the two main suspects -- Modi and his maternal uncle Mehul Choksi -- as well as numerous other people, including bank employees.
Firestone Trading Pvt. Ltd., Radashir Jewellery Co. Ltd., and Paundra Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. are among the group firms of Firestar International Ltd. All three are housed in a single location in Bandra East's Bharat Diamond Bourse. Along with Neeshal Trading Pvt. Ltd., several new organisations have started to take shape, including Bentley Properties Pvt. Ltd., Mak Business Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., ANM Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., and NDM Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. Strangely, everyone is listed as living at No. 15 Nagindas Mansion in Opera House, south Mumbai.
Encounter between militants and BSF on Indo-Bangladesh border, one martyred
Tomato flu increases tension after corona, monkeypox, 82 children infected
Mughal gold coins found on the banks of the river, crowd gathered