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Mumbai: State Bank of India (SBI) has initiated proceedings to declare Bhushan Power & Steel (BPSL) promoters as wilful defaulters. In a show-cause notice to Sanjay Singal and his wife Aarti Singal, the bank asked them to be personally present in front of its wilful defaulter identification committee to put forth their point of view.
Singal and his wife have challenged the notice in the Delhi High Court on the grounds that not enough information was provided by the bank with the notice.
“Without providing any relevant details of material documents to the petitioners in support of the purported allegations made against the petitioners in the impugned letter dated 07.06.2019, and while the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the respondent bank issued yet another letter dated 02.07.2020 ... to the petitioners calling the petitioners for a personal hearing on 17.07.2020 at the office of the respondent,” the petition, a copy of which is with ET, said.
SBI in its notice said that the wilful defaulter identification committee sought the Singals’ presence at its Mumbai office or through video conferencing to make their submissions. SBI did not respond to ET’s email seeking comment.
In its petition before the Delhi High Court, the Singals contended that the defaults, if any on part of the company, are not intentional, wilful or deliberate and does not owe to any act done by them.
“Our contention is that the allegation against us does not have any basis. SBI has also failed to give any details of its complaint in its notice while labelling us as wilful defaulters,” said Rishi Agrawala, who represented the Singals in the case.
The SBI notice comes as another twist in the battle for control of BPSL which is facing insolvency proceedings. It comes amidst an enforcement directorate probe into allegations of fraud against the erstwhile promoters. JSW Steel, who paid Rs 19,700 crore to win the 3.5 MT steel plant, has so far delayed payment despite NCLAT clearance because of the litigation.
Singal and his wife have challenged the notice in the Delhi High Court on the grounds that not enough information was provided by the bank with the notice.
“Without providing any relevant details of material documents to the petitioners in support of the purported allegations made against the petitioners in the impugned letter dated 07.06.2019, and while the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the respondent bank issued yet another letter dated 02.07.2020 ... to the petitioners calling the petitioners for a personal hearing on 17.07.2020 at the office of the respondent,” the petition, a copy of which is with ET, said.
SBI in its notice said that the wilful defaulter identification committee sought the Singals’ presence at its Mumbai office or through video conferencing to make their submissions. SBI did not respond to ET’s email seeking comment.
In its petition before the Delhi High Court, the Singals contended that the defaults, if any on part of the company, are not intentional, wilful or deliberate and does not owe to any act done by them.
“Our contention is that the allegation against us does not have any basis. SBI has also failed to give any details of its complaint in its notice while labelling us as wilful defaulters,” said Rishi Agrawala, who represented the Singals in the case.
The SBI notice comes as another twist in the battle for control of BPSL which is facing insolvency proceedings. It comes amidst an enforcement directorate probe into allegations of fraud against the erstwhile promoters. JSW Steel, who paid Rs 19,700 crore to win the 3.5 MT steel plant, has so far delayed payment despite NCLAT clearance because of the litigation.