Hearing a petition alleging siphoning of Rs 600 crore by Board of Directors in Pen Urban Cooperative Bank in Raigad district, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday restrained owners of 39 properties held in benami names from selling or creating third party rights.
Justice D D Sinha and Justice Vijaya Kapse-Tahilramani also asked Reserve Bank of India to make its stand clear on September 26, the next date of hearing.
The 39 benami properties valued at Rs 60 crore have already been attached. However, the court ordered those persons holding such properties as benami on behalf of the owners, not to dispose them or sell them or create third party rights until the case is finally disposed of. RBI had suggested appointment of a liquidator, but the petitioners- Naren Jadhav and others have opposed the move saying the bank should be revived instead, so that the interests of the investors were protected.
It was argued that most of the investors were those, who had invested less than Rs 1 lakh individually and would stand to lose if the bank was allowed to go under liquidation.
The petitioners have instead suggested that steps be taken to help the bank in meeting its obligations towards the investors and protecting the funds.
