Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Friday admitted a contempt petition initiated by Mauritius Commercial Bank against various bankers of Sujana Universal Industries Ltd.
Mauritius Commercial Bank moved the contempt petition against Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, IDBI, Central Bank of India, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Indian Overseas Bank and UCO Bank, seeking action against these banks under the Contempt of Courts Act for their alleged violation of an order passed by the High Court in a civil revision petition.
Sanjeev Kumar, counsel appearing for Mauritius Bank before Justice M. Satyanarayana Murthy, submitted that the High Court had on September 14, 2016 passed an order directing the banks to disclose the bank account details of Sujana Industries Limited within a week from the date of the order by way of an affidavit before a Civil Court in Hyderabad where the execution petition of the Mauritius Bank is pending.
He said that Mauritius Bank moved execution petition based on a decree passed by the UK High Court for recovery of '100 crore loan from Sujana Industries.
Mr Kumar said despite the High Court order, the banks failed to disclose the details till date and urged the court to punish them for contempt. While admitting the case, the judge adjourned the hearing.
The Hyderabad High Court on Friday reserved orders on an appeal moved by the TS government challenging an order granted by a single judge staying all proceedings in criminal cases pending against former billiards champion Michael Ferreira and four of his associates and also directing the trial court to release them on bail, besides setting aside the transit warrant against him.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice A. Shankar Narayana, after hearing the appeal by the government, reserved its orders.
H. Venugopal, counsel for the TS home department, opposing the singe judge order contended that the single judge shouldn’t have granted bail by invoking writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution.
Counsels for the accused, supporting the order of the single judge, cited a judgment of the Supreme Court wherein the Apex Court upheld the power of the courts to grant bail under Article 226.
It may be recalled that the police in AP, TS and Maharashtra booked cases against Malcolm N. Desai, Michael Joseph Ferreira, Srinivasa Rao Vanka, Magaral V. Balaji and Nozer K. Desai, for their alleged involvement in Rs 400-crore alleged fraud involving the multi-level marketing company QNet.
