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Supreme Court seizes Amrapali office building, hospital, benami Goa villa

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Amrapali Silicon City

The Supreme Court attached real estate firm Amrapali Group’s 100-bed multi-speciality hospital, bank accounts, the building which houses its office, certain firms and a ‘benami’ villa in Goa.

The top court asked the chief financial officer (CFO) Chander Wadhwa to deposit Rs. 11.69 crore with its registry within three weeks, said media reports. It also asked a statutory auditor Anil Mittal to pay Rs. 47 lakh.

The court sought the presence of CMD Anil Sharma and two directors Shiv Priya and Ajay Kumar on November 19.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and UU Lalit said that Amrapali Group has deliberately not complied with its earlier order and committed a “serious fraud” by diverting home-buyers’ money from one company to other.

Promoters of the group have been in police custody since October 9 in connection with the missing funds that they took from nearly 40,000 homebuyers whose flats are yet to be constructed.

“This is a serious kind of fraud,” judge Arun Misra said on Tuesday, after court-appointed auditors said the company continued to be uncooperative in efforts to trace the money given by investors.

The bench ordered that attachment of the group’s state-of-the-art, multi-speciality, 100-bed hospital situated at Greater Noida for which funds from Ultra Home Construction Pvt Ltd were utilised.

The bench also attached the bank accounts of Gauri Suta Infrastructures Pvt Ltd, its director Sunil Kumar and its assets after forensic auditors disclosed that Amrapali transferred home-buyers’ money from one firm to sister companies using it as conduit.

The top court also directed attachment of towers which housed the company’s office and ‘Aqua Fortis’ villa in Goa for no one came forward to claim ownership.

The court restrained the realty firm from alienating its companies through which it had transactions and ordered attachment of such firms. It also restrained Amrapali Group from creating any third party rights for 86 luxury cars and SUVs purchased from the company’s funds.

Forensic auditors Pawan Kumar Aggarwal and Ravi Bhatia, appointed by the court to look into the affairs of embattled firm, said that home-buyers’ money was given as advances to the tune of Rs. 442 crore to 15 companies and nine individuals from Amrapali Saphire project.

The report of forensic auditors said that Amrapali Infrastructure Pvt Ltd was the main company and around Rs. 2,000 crore were transferred from it to other sister companies.

Bhatia told the bench that a firm called ‘Stunning Construction Pvt Ltd’ did some “stunning work” as it paid income tax returns of the companies as well as directors and other individuals, for which it received Rs. 500 crore.

The bench then asked the forensic auditors to ascertain the investment of Amrapali in its projects and the “ghost” home buyers as the properties could have been sold to such benami persons to augment the value of company.

“They have created web of companies since 2010 to transfer funds from one project to another to circumvent the restrictions enforced in the Company’s Act,” the auditors told the bench, adding that promoters have also tried to avoid stamp duty by transferring the high value property to other company.

Aggarwal said that in the forensic audit they have found transactions of the Group with other 27 “dummy companies” and since last year the promoters of Amrapali have started withdrawing money from bank accounts of such companies.

Justice UU Lalit told the lawyers for Amrapali that the funds the company has spent to acquire property or create new companies will need to be refunded. “It should come back since the money belongs to the buyer. Therefore, all this (properties) have to be sold,” he said.

The court also pulled up the Group for filling 3000-4000 page affidavit with no requisite information and warned that directors may be sent behind bars for not disclosing the details sought by the court.

“We are giving one last opportunity to explain everything to the concerned directors and the Amrapali Group and comply with the orders of the court. It should also be explained as why contempt action should not be initiated against them,” the bench said.

The bench posted the matter for further hearing on November 20.

On October 31, the apex court had directed the Amrapali Group to disclose the names of all the companies with which it had any kind of transactions after forensic auditors pointed out that there may be a web of more than 200-250 such firms where home-buyers’ money was transferred.

The two forensic auditors, appointed by the court to look into the affairs of Amrapali Group had said besides 47 sister companies, they stumbled upon 31 companies whose names were never disclosed by the embattled real estate firm.

The court was also told that there may be a case of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), as large amount of money was transferred to a multinational company based in Mauritius.

It questioned Wadhwa as to how a group company paid his income tax amounting to Rs. 2 crore, when he was earning only Rs. 50,000 per month.

It had also initiated contempt proceedings against Sharma and its directors for prima facie violating court’s order and thwarting the course of justice. The matter is listed on November 20.

The court is seized of a batch of petitions filed by home buyers who are seeking possession of around 42,000 flats booked in projects of the Amrapali Group.

2024 Lok Sabha Elections

PM Modi raises national security pitch to attack Congress, says Pakistan now weeping and screaming for help under BJP rule

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a massive gathering in Palamu, Jharkhand, where he highlighted the achievements of his government and warned against the dangers posed by the Congress and its allies

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made a scathing attack on the Congress over national security and said the grand old party is a coward as its government used to weep on global platforms after terrorist attacks. The prime minister was addressing a rally in Jharkhand’s Palamu where he said the situation has changed under the BJP rule and Pakistan is now weeping and screaming for help.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a massive gathering in Palamu, Jharkhand, where he highlighted the achievements of his government and warned against the dangers posed by the Congress and its allies. Speaking to the enthusiastic crowd, PM Modi emphasized the significance of each vote and the transformative impact it can have on the nation.

He took a veiled dig at Rahul Gandhi and said Pakistani leaders, shaken by surgical strikes, are praying for shahzada to become the next Prime Minister. But a strong India wants a strong government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attack on Rahul Gandhi comes days after a former minister in Imran Khan’s Cabinet in Pakistan, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, shared a video which featured the Congress leader on his social media handle and praised him for attacking the BJP.

PM Modi trained his guns on the ruling alliance in Jharkhand and said corrupt JMM and Congress leaders have amassed huge wealth for their children. He further added that he did not own a home or even a bicycle. There is no blot of corruption on him in the past 25 years as chief minister and prime minister. Earlier while speaking in Sabarkantha, PM Modi said the BJP government has been consistently taking strong action against terrorism across the Pakistan border in comparison to weak governments in the past.

The Prime Minister said terrorists used to come to India and carry out attacks. The weak government during that time used to send dossiers. He further added that today’s new India does not send dossiers, it gives dose to terrorists.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

PM Modi takes a dig at Rahul Gandhi after Congress picks him for Raebareli, says daro mat, bhago mat

PM Modi, speaking at a Lok Sabha election rally in Bengal, said both Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi had fled their constituencies.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi today commented for the first time to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s announcement of his candidacy for the Raebareli seat. Rahul is making his way towards Raebareli because he is afraid of Amethi seat, according to the PM.

The Prime Minister sneered as he said at a rally in Bengal that today he also want to tell him, Daro Mat (don’t be afraid), Bhaago Mat (don’t run).

Rahul Gandhi has often said, Daro Mat while accusing the BJP government of using investigaticve agencies to terrorise critics and political opponents.

According to Prime Minister Modi, there is no need for an exit poll or opinion survey because Congress would lose by a greater margin than the previous time.

Their tallest leader did not have the guts to fight the polls in Raebareli, Prime Minister Modi added, making reference to Sonia Gandhi. She went away and joined the Rajya Sabha in Rajasthan.

The PM reffered Rahul Gandhi as Shehzaada and said he would lose Wayanad, as he has predicted. He was searching for a second seat because of this. Also, their supporters said that he would battle from Amethi. However, PM Modi said, he is so afraid that he ran to Raebareli to find a way out.

Additionally, he claimed that the I.N.D.I.A bloc is only committed to the voting base of a specific locality.

Speaking out against the TMC and the Left-Congress allience in Bengal, Prime Minister Modi claimed he was not afraid since he had overcome poverty. Getting scared is not in his dictionary. He is determined to work for the country, he said.

Meanwhile, the Amethi-Raebareli decision was attacked by a number of BJP leaders, who claimed it was obvious that Rahul Gandhi knew he couldn’t win Amethi, where Smriti Irani is contesting again following her stunning success in the previous Lok Sabha election.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Rahul Gandhi to contest from Raebareli, KL Sharma from Amethi

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The Congress party unveiled its list of candidates on Friday, and the party has picked Rahul Gandhi from Raebareli and Kishori Lal Sharma from Amethi has been nominated. After a great deal of speculation regarding the two Uttar Pradesh seats, the announcement was made.

Raebareli and Amethi have both been strongholds for the Congress. Rahul Gandhi lost against BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi.

Taking to social media X, Congress announced their decision to field Rahul Gandhi from Raebareli and KL Sharma from Amethi, which was made at a meeting of the Central Election Committee.

Today is the final day to submit nominations for the  fifth phase of the election, which is scheduled to held on May 20th. Both the candidates will file nominations today. 

Priyanka Gandhi praised KL Sharma shortly after the nominees for the two prestigious seats were revealed, stating that his loyalty and dedication will help him win the election.

She wrote X, her family has known Kishori Lal Sharma ji for a very long time. His dedication to serving the public good serves as an example. The Congress Party’s decision to nominate Shri Kishori Lal Ji as an Amethi candidate is a matter of joy. She also said Kishori Lal Sharma will undoubtedly win this election because of his devotion to duty and loyalty.

However, given Union minister Smriti Irani’s success in Amethi in 2019, there is worry that Rahul Gandhi’s change of seat could work in the BJP’s favour. With her impending victory, the senior BJP leader has said that the Congress’s delay was due to cold feet and is prepared to defend the seat.

KL Sharma will contest against Smriti Irani in Amethi in the Lok Sabha elections. While, Rahul Gandhi’s opponent would be Dinesh Pratap Singh, who was named by BJP for Raebareli on Thursday. Singh lost the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi  is scheduled to hold a roadshow in Raebareli after filing of nominations. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will also visit Raebareli today.

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