Nagpur: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached cash deposits worth Rs25.44 crore of city company Sunil- Hi-Tech Engineers in the coal block case of UPA regime.
According to ED, it is the amount which the company earned by selling shares in a group company. It fetched a premium because of a deal it bagged to develop a coal block along with Maharashtra State Mining Corporation Limited (MSMCL). It is alleged that the contract itself was wrongfully awarded. The CBI registered an offence in 2014 on the basis of which ED started investigations.
Sunil Hi-Tech Engineers maintains that the attachment will not impact its cash flow. It says ED has only blocked a part of the claim due to be received from MSMCL by its group company. The company also claimed that it has not received any official communication from ED. The agency has issued a press release on the development.
Here is a backgrounder to the case: MSMCL, a state government company, had been allotted the Adkoli coal block in Yavatmal district. It later invited bids for operating the mine and commercial use of the coal.
The tender was bagged by Sunil Hi-Tech Engineers even though it did not meet the condition for the bidder to have at least three years of experience in mining. During evaluation of bids, DG Philip, the then managing director of MSMCL, remarked about Sunil Hi-Tech Engineers’ ineligibility.
Yet, the company bagged the deal by emerging as the highest bidder. “This was because the tender committee evaluated Sunil-Hi-Tech Engineers and gave it the technical go-ahead,” said ED’s press release.
Investigation by the ED revealed that Sunil-Hi-Tech Engineers transferred the mining activities to its group company Sunil Hi-Tech Energy. Then it got allotted to itself 1.86 crore shares of Rs10 each. The allotment took place for a consideration other than cash.
After that Sunil Hi-Tech Engineers sold its shares in Sunil Hi-Tech Energy to Jaypee group and M/s SHEL Investment Consultancy. The fact that the company had bagged the mining deal led to a benefit to the tune of Rs25.44 crore in the stake sale. “The ED has attached the cash deposits to the tune of this amount,” said the release.
A company source said that it has come to know from its own sources that ED has instructed MSMCL to hold Rs25.44 crore from a claim of Rs28.27 crore. “The claim towards coal block development was of a group company and not Sunil-Hi-tech Engineers. There will not be any cash flow impact on the company,” the source added.
