Mumbai:
The Securities and Exchange Board of India, or Sebi, on Wednesday
constituted a
committee under the chairmanship of justice R.M. Lodha, a former chief justice of India, for disposing of the land purchased by PACL Ltd in order to refund people who have invested in the company’s various funds for purchase of land.
S. Raman, a whole-time member of Sebi, and Amit Pradhan, the chief general manager and regional director of Sebi’s North Regional Office, will be the two members working for the committee, Sebi said.
The panel was formed after the Supreme Court ordered Sebi to do so to carry out the refund process to PACL’s investors.
Sebi in a circular said Rakesh Kumar Singh, a deputy general manager of the capital markets regulator, has been appointed as the nodal officer-cum-secretary of the committee for the refund process. Singh will be in charge of the funds collected and will work in liaison with the committee.
On 2 February, the capital markets regulator had penalized PACL and nine of its directors a total of Rs.23.32 crore for allegedly violating Sebi norms on collective investment schemes (CIS) and illegally mobilizing Rs.49,100 crore from investors between 1996 and 2014.
The nine individuals who were penalized by Sebi with different amounts included Anand Gurwant Singh, Gurnam Singh, Tarlochan Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, Uppal Devinder Kumar, Tyger Joginder, Gurmeet Singh and Subrata Bhattacharya.
Sebi had said in an order that the company and its directors had been mobilizing funds from general public through CIS since 1996 without a legitimate licence from the regulator.
Sebi’s order came after a decision by the Supreme Court in the matter on 2 February, in which the court decided to appoint a special committee at Sebi to execute out the refund process for the investors who have parked money in PACL’s illegal investment schemes.
On 11 December, Sebi had initiated the recovery proceedings against PACL, formerly known as Pearl Agrotech Corp. Ltd, and the nine directors, attached all their bank accounts, demat accounts and mutual funds (MF) folios for their failure to refund Rs.49,100 crore with interest within time to around 50 million investors despite an order by the markets regulator.
On 22 August 2014, Sebi had directed the defaulters to wind up the schemes that were illegitimately issued by PACL to raise funds. Sebi had given them three months to do so.
A Supreme Court bench, comprising Anil R. Dave and A.K. Goel, had ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to hand over the title deeds of the properties of PACL to Sebi. The court, in its order, had said that the committee headed by Lodha will decide on the modalities of sale of assets.
The apex court, however, had hinted that the sale of assets for carrying out the refund will be done through a public auction in an oral observation. The case will be heard next on 2 August.
On 23 September, Sebi had imposed a penalty of nearly Rs.7,269.50 crore on PACL and its directors for illegally collecting money through investment schemes without the requisite regulatory approvals.
It was among the highest-ever penalties imposed by the capital market regulator on any entity.
PACL had challenged the Sebi order at the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), which dismissed the appeal. Following this, PACL and its nine directors had moved the Rajasthan high court to get all the investment schemes legally registered. Sebi appealed to the Supreme Court seeking a transfer of the case from the Jaipur bench of the Rajasthan high court, and, on 16 November, the Supreme Court agreed to do so.
According to Sebi’s investigations mentioned in the September order, PACL had allotted land to about 12.2 million customers till March 2012, when its total customer advances stood at Rs.14,331 crore. The company had further disclosed that it had collected an additional Rs.29,420.65 crore from 46.31 million customers to whom it had not allotted any land.
Sebi had said that Delhi-based PACL operated from 15 regional offices and had 3.35 million field associates in 2011-12. The firm offered two kinds of plans: a cash-down payment plan and an instalment payment plan. Under the former, it offered to allot land to customers within 270 days of payment, and under the latter within 90 days
committee under the chairmanship of justice R.M. Lodha, a former chief justice of India, for disposing of the land purchased by PACL Ltd in order to refund people who have invested in the company’s various funds for purchase of land.
S. Raman, a whole-time member of Sebi, and Amit Pradhan, the chief general manager and regional director of Sebi’s North Regional Office, will be the two members working for the committee, Sebi said.
The panel was formed after the Supreme Court ordered Sebi to do so to carry out the refund process to PACL’s investors.
Sebi in a circular said Rakesh Kumar Singh, a deputy general manager of the capital markets regulator, has been appointed as the nodal officer-cum-secretary of the committee for the refund process. Singh will be in charge of the funds collected and will work in liaison with the committee.
On 2 February, the capital markets regulator had penalized PACL and nine of its directors a total of Rs.23.32 crore for allegedly violating Sebi norms on collective investment schemes (CIS) and illegally mobilizing Rs.49,100 crore from investors between 1996 and 2014.
The nine individuals who were penalized by Sebi with different amounts included Anand Gurwant Singh, Gurnam Singh, Tarlochan Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, Uppal Devinder Kumar, Tyger Joginder, Gurmeet Singh and Subrata Bhattacharya.
Sebi had said in an order that the company and its directors had been mobilizing funds from general public through CIS since 1996 without a legitimate licence from the regulator.
Sebi’s order came after a decision by the Supreme Court in the matter on 2 February, in which the court decided to appoint a special committee at Sebi to execute out the refund process for the investors who have parked money in PACL’s illegal investment schemes.
On 11 December, Sebi had initiated the recovery proceedings against PACL, formerly known as Pearl Agrotech Corp. Ltd, and the nine directors, attached all their bank accounts, demat accounts and mutual funds (MF) folios for their failure to refund Rs.49,100 crore with interest within time to around 50 million investors despite an order by the markets regulator.
On 22 August 2014, Sebi had directed the defaulters to wind up the schemes that were illegitimately issued by PACL to raise funds. Sebi had given them three months to do so.
A Supreme Court bench, comprising Anil R. Dave and A.K. Goel, had ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to hand over the title deeds of the properties of PACL to Sebi. The court, in its order, had said that the committee headed by Lodha will decide on the modalities of sale of assets.
The apex court, however, had hinted that the sale of assets for carrying out the refund will be done through a public auction in an oral observation. The case will be heard next on 2 August.
On 23 September, Sebi had imposed a penalty of nearly Rs.7,269.50 crore on PACL and its directors for illegally collecting money through investment schemes without the requisite regulatory approvals.
It was among the highest-ever penalties imposed by the capital market regulator on any entity.
PACL had challenged the Sebi order at the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), which dismissed the appeal. Following this, PACL and its nine directors had moved the Rajasthan high court to get all the investment schemes legally registered. Sebi appealed to the Supreme Court seeking a transfer of the case from the Jaipur bench of the Rajasthan high court, and, on 16 November, the Supreme Court agreed to do so.
According to Sebi’s investigations mentioned in the September order, PACL had allotted land to about 12.2 million customers till March 2012, when its total customer advances stood at Rs.14,331 crore. The company had further disclosed that it had collected an additional Rs.29,420.65 crore from 46.31 million customers to whom it had not allotted any land.
Sebi had said that Delhi-based PACL operated from 15 regional offices and had 3.35 million field associates in 2011-12. The firm offered two kinds of plans: a cash-down payment plan and an instalment payment plan. Under the former, it offered to allot land to customers within 270 days of payment, and under the latter within 90 days
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