MCA moves contempt pleas against Axis, StanChart chiefs and Ramesh Bawa

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) on Thursday moved contempt pleas in the Mumbai Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against former managing director (MD) and CEO of IL&FS Financial Services (IFIN) Ramesh Bawa, Axis Bank MD and CEO Amitabh Chaudhry, and Standard Chartered Bank India CEO Zarin Daruwala.

The contempt pleas have been filed by the government against the two bank CEOs and Bawa, alleging they violated the NCLT order that restrained top officials of IL&FS — which included Bawa — from disposing of their personal assets.

The matter could not be heard on Thursday because of paucity of time and has been listed for hearing on April 26.

The NCLT, in its interim order on December 2018 under a two-judge Bench headed by Justice VP Singh and Justice Duraiswamy, had directed nine former executives of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) group to publicly disclose their financial positions to the courts, which included property, financial investments, bank accounts and lockers.

The NCLT had also barred former directors of IL&FS from “creating third-party rights, mortgaging or alienating movable and immovable assets fully or partly owned”. 

It added that the former officers could not part with their shares in the IL&FS group or in any subsidiary of the group, until further orders from the tribunal. However, the NCLT had allowed the former directors of the troubled group to withdraw Rs 2 lakh each per month from one of their bank accounts.

The list included former IL&FS officials Ravi Parthasarathy, Hari Sankaran, and A K Saha. The order was based on a Serious Fraud Investigation Office report that had alleged the top officials of the IL&FS group were involved in siphoning off and diversion of funds from the group as they were the controlling minds of the beleaguered group.