Piramal Realty: HC restrains ED from taking coercive steps against Pir... https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/property-/-cstru...

Industry
English Edition | 05 September, 2023, 07:35 PM IST | Today's Paper

HC restrains ED from taking coercive steps against

Piramal assets
By Raghav Ohri, Last Updated: Aug 02, 2022, 12:45 AM IST

Synopsis
ED has alleged that Omkar Group took a Rs 410 crore loan from Yes Bank to construct buildings for slum dwellers under the Slum
Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme at Wadala (in Mumbai) but redirected the money to other companies.

Agencies
The Delhi High Court last week restrained the Directorate of Enforcement (ED)
from taking coercive steps against properties worth ₹410 crore of M/s Piramal
Realty Pvt Ltd that the federal agency had provisionally attached in January.

ED has alleged that Omkar Group took a Rs 410 crore loan from Yes Bank to
construct buildings for slum dwellers under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority
(SRA) scheme at Wadala (in Mumbai) but redirected the money to other
companies.

The agency is probing an alleged ₹22,000 crore SRA scandal by the promoters of Omkar Realtors and Developers
(Omkar), Kamal Gupta and Babulal Verma. It has recently trained its focus on their association with the Piramal Group's
real estate arm.

The high court has also restrained the petitioner company (Piramal Realty) from "disposing of or creating third-party
rights or encumbering" the property till the next date of hearing, January 18.
Omkar's promoters were charged under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for
allegedly misusing various permissions given under the SRA schemes and availing loans worth Rs 22,000 crore which
were then diverted or siphoned.

The company, it was also alleged, diverted ₹410 crore taken by way of a loan from Yes Bank in relation to which Piramal
Realty's properties were attached.

Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, counsel for the petitioner company, contended the agency had provisionally attached the
properties in Worli, Mumbai in January.

Since then, 180 days from the date of passing of the provisional attachment of the property had elapsed and
Adjudicating Authority has become functus o�icio (an agency whose mandate has expired), Aggarwal argued.

It was further contended there was no nexus between the company's bona �de interest in the attached properties and
any alleged o�ence or proceeds of crime.

Similarly, there was also no nexus between the company and the Yes Bank loan, the defence further claimed, adding that
the property of the company attached by the ED predates the alleged o�ence and that the petitioner company was a bona
�de secured creditor.

It was also argued that the attachment of properties is a coercive measure, the proceedings before the Adjudicating
Authority PMLA are summary in nature and are bound to be concluded within a statutory time span of 180 days in terms
of the Act.

Since the proceedings before the Adjudicating authority were still going on post the expiry of 180 days, the provisional
order of attachment had also ceased to have e�ect, the defence counsel argued.

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