High Court says no to Deccan Chronicle plea

Says firm's write petition nor maintanable, refuses to circumvent statutory procedure on any grounds

Clearing the way for the proceedings initiated by the principal bench of the Company Law Board (CLB) on a petition filed against Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL) management, the High Court in Hyderabad on Wednesday finally made it clear that the company could move the HC only by way of an appeal.

“My objection is over the maintainability of your writ petition,” Justice P Naveen Rao told the company counsel when he tried to reiterate the objections raised against the application filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) during the hearing held on the third day today.

Last week, DCHL vice chairman T Vinayak Ravi Reddy approached the high court  for prohibiting the principal bench of CLB from acting on the SFIO application, which had sought directions to change the present management of DCHL as was done in the Satyam case in the past.

Justice Rao said the Tribunal was a statutory forum to deal with this matter and this court cannot circumvent the statutory procedure on any grounds cited by the petitioner. The company could come back to the company court (a designated court within the high court) only for an appeal over an order issued by the Tribunal, he clarified.

Meanwhile, conveying the Centre’s position, assistant solicitor general B Narayyana Reddy informed the court that the Centre had directed the SFIO to file an application before the principal bench of the CLB against DCHL after formulating an opinion over the matter as required under  section 388-B of the Companies Act, and that opinion need not be communicated.

The company counsel time and again maintained in the court that the application was filed in the principal bench of CLB without the Centre formulating an opinion as required by the law. Quoting the statement of the assistant solicitor general, the Judge said that the opinion of the government could be available in one of the file notings and this court was not going to ask for it as the Tribunal in New Delhi would be dealing with the case.

The assistant solicitor general also said as the amendment to the Companies Act made in 2002, which talks about an appellate tribunal, was not yet notified by the government, the company could approach the high court if it is aggrieved by a future order of the CLB.

The Judge has agreed to defer his orders till Nov  23 on the request of the DCHL counsel. Yesterday, the principal bench of the CLB had adjourned the matter for next week owing to the petition filed by the company in this court.