HC appoints senior advocate Ramesh as Amicus Curiae

The Madras High Court today appointed senior advocate Ramesh as Amicus Curiae on a petition filed a software solutions company registered with New York Stock Exchange seeking to declare the FIR registered against it under Tamil Nadu Protection of Interest of Depositors (TNPID) Act 1997 as ultra vires.
Justice P N Prakash, on a petition filed by M/s.Helios and Matheson Information Technology Limited, also ordered issue of notice to Special Government Pleader R Sanjay Gandhi.
The Deputy Superintendent of Police, Economic Offences Wing (EOW) here, registered a case against the company under Section 420 of IPC (cheating) read with Section 5 of TNPID Act, 1997 for alleged non-payment of amounts to some depositors.

The company filed a petition against it stating the police have no jurisdiction to investigate a matter involving an offence under TNPID Act because the entire subject matter is pending before the Supreme Court.
The company submitted that it is not a financial establishment as mentioned under TNPID Act and not involved in the business of receiving deposits. Receiving of deposits under the Companies Act 1956 was one of the means of the company for meeting working capital requirements and not the business of the company.
TNPID was only to deal with non-banking financial companies and unincorporated financial institutions, the company submitted, adding the due date of them to make payment to the depositors was on Aprl 1, 2015 and it has already approached the Company Law Board for extension of time to repay the deposits, which has been numbered by CLB.

The company submitted that it does not utilise the money received to invest in assets and it was utilized to meet working capital needs.

It said that it has been accepting deposits from public for the last 10 years and has also been punctual in repaying the deposits with interest without any demur of default.
It said it has accepted deposits under Companies Act and the objects and reasons of TNPID Act are vastly different from the objects and reasons behind accepting of deposits under the Companies Act. The police have no jurisdiction to investigate the case, it contended.
It prayed for interim stay of all further proceedings of the FIR registered against it by EOW on April one 2015.