Advance bail for 3 ex-officials cancelled in cheating case

The Madras High Court has cancelled the anticipatory bail of three erstwhile executives of Disc Assets Lead (India) Limited in a Rs 1,137 crore cheating case after it was informed that the trio were not cooperating in the probe.

The court also directed them to surrender their passports, if any, and appear before the Special Court for Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (TNPID) cases, Madurai, on November 8.

A division bench, comprising Justice M Sathynarayanan and Justice N Seshasayee, on November 1 ordered cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to the then Managing Director V Janardhanan and directors N M Umashankar and N Arun by the court in September last year.

The bench took serious note of the report submitted by the chairman and co-coordinator of Disc Assets, Justice (retired) N Paul Vasanthakumar-- court appointed administrator-- that the accused were misusing the liberty given to them.

The report added that the trio avoided furnishing documents of title deeds of properties citing frivolous and unsustainable reasons and were not cooperating with the investigating agency.

The matter relates to alleged cheating of 12 lakh depositors of their investment to the tune of over Rs 1,137 crore by the Madurai-based Disc Assets, which was formerly into agri business, after offering farm land for purchase on installment basis and assuring to maintain them.

The court had appointed Vasanthakumar, retired Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, as the administrator of Disc Assets for taking over the properties of the company to settle dues to the depositors.