HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Thursday quashed a criminal case registered against MBS Jewellers director Sukesh Gupta, his wife Neetu Gupta, and two of their business associates from Neeharika Infrastructure Group, for selling a property mortgaged with a finance firm.
The property, Nazri Bagh Palace in King Koti, was mortgaged with SREI Equipment Finance Limited in 2008 for part funding a requirement of Rs 110 crore. The CCS police registered a case against the accused in 2020 on a complaint from SREI Finance Limited.
According to the police, the accused had mortgaged two properties, one in King Koti and 8.8 guntas of land at Hafeezpet of Serilingampally to meet their financial requirement. But, as they failed to repay the amount, the land in Hafeezpet was auctioned for Rs 102.6 crore.
While the finance company tried to recoup another Rs 58.9 crore, including overdraft and penalty, it found that the Nazri Bagh Palace had been sold without intimation. The accused then made a settlement through an arbitrator and issued three cheques.
After issuing the cheques, the accused are alleged to have emailed the finance company, asking it not to cash in the cheques, following which a fraud case was registered. After a lower court ordered criminal charges, they challenged the same in the High Court, asking for the case to be quashed.
Justice K. Surender quashed the case, stating that once the award passed through an arbitrator to settle the case, the lender company only has the option to file an execution petition to get the award amount, which is civil in nature and not criminal.
The police said that Gupta was a habitual offender, as there were several cases against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and other agencies under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act for alleged loan frauds and revenue disputes.
