Businessman C. Sivasankaran, 62, a Seychelles national who founded, acquired and exited many companies, including the defunct telecom services provider Aircel Limited, has moved the Madras High Court challenging a Look Out Circular issued against him by the Bureau of Immigration at the instance of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as well as the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).
The LOC had been issued in connection with an investigation with regard to alleged wrongful loss of more than ₹600 crore caused to IDBI Bank by obtaining loans in connivance with top officials of the bank. The CBI booked the petitioner and others in April last year following a complaint lodged by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) in October 2017.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), IDBI Bank sanctioned a loan for ₹322.40 crore to Finnish power generation firm Win Windy Oy (WWO) in October 2010. It was the case of CBI that the Seychelles-based Siva Investments and Holdings Limited (SIHL) was the holding company of WWO and that SIHL was part of Siva group of companies of which the writ petitioner was the chairman.
The performance of WWO showed stress and it was eventually granted voluntary bankruptcy by a court in Finland in October 2013. Despite knowing this, the top brass of IDBI Bank entered into a criminal conspiracy with the promoter directors of Siva group of companies and sanctioned loan of ₹523 crore to Axcel Sunshine Limited, a company based in British Virgin Islands and an associate of Siva group, the prosecution claimed. However, in an affidavit filed in the High Court through his counsel Vijayan Subramanian, the petitioner claimed that his name had been included in the FIR erroneously though he was neither the chairman, director or employee of any of Siva group of companies when the case was booked in April 2018. He claimed to have ceased to be a director of Siva group of companies way back in 2008 itself. He also dissociated himself from Axcel Sunshine.
Claiming to have cooperated with the investigation conducted by the CBI as well as ED, he said the issuance of LOC had caused considerable damage to his reputation especially when he was a holder of a diplomatic passport in his capacity as Ambassador at Large of the Republic of Seychelles. He said the LOC was a hindrance to discharge of his diplomatic duties.