A special PMLA court allowed Punjab National Bank and ICICI Bank‘s plea for valuation, auction, and sale of certain properties recovered and attached in the money laundering case related to absconding accused Mehul Choksi.
The banks, in their plea, submitted that the applications had been pending since Nov 2022, and such delay in the release or restoration of the properties was delaying the recovery of public funds. They also said that the properties were subject to general wear and tear and, therefore, the value of the property was decreasing.
It was further submitted that in a meeting with the Enforcement Directorate on Jan 3, it was decided that the banks would be allowed to monetise the properties. It was also agreed that the valuation of the properties, in accordance with the applicable law, was to be carried out.
Allowing the plea, the judge said that they are allowed to carry out the requisite valuation of the properties. “Post undertaking the…valuation process, the applicants (banks) shall be allowed to auction the properties…The applicants and the liquidators, as the case may be, shall be allowed to open fixed deposits with ICICI Bank…with respect to sale proceeds from the sale of assets exclusively charged to ICICI Bank…In respect of sale proceeds of assets charged to the lenders in BNS Consortium and Gili Consortium, fixed deposits be opened with PNB…,” the judge said.
The judge further said that sale proceeds are to be deposited as fixed deposits after deducting all associated costs and expenses incurred for the purpose of carrying out valuation and auction. “The sale proceeds deposited in the form of FDs (fixed deposits) will be in favour of this court,” the judge said.
In 2018, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) provisionally attached 41 immovable properties worth Rs 1,217 crore in the case. The attached properties included his two flats in a posh locality of Mumbai, a mall in Kolkata, 27 acres of land on the Mumbai-Goa Highway, 101 acres of land in Tamil Nadu, lands in Nashik, Nagpur, Andhra Pradesh, two bungalows in Alibaug, and offices in Surat.
