PTI, NEW DELHI: Three directors of embattled real estate firm Amrapali Group were on Tuesday ordered to be taken into police custody by the Supreme Court which castigated the company for playing “hide and seek” with the court and not complying with its orders to hand over all the documents to the forensic auditors.
A bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra and U U Lalit said the directors — Anil Kumar Sharma, Shiv Priya and Ajay Kumar — who were present in the court, would remain in police custody till they hand over all the documents of the group’s 46 firms.
“What is this happening? Why this hide and seek and blatant violation of the orders of this court?,” the bench told the counsel appearing for the group and added, “You are playing with the dignity of this court”.
The two auditors — Ravi Bhatia and Pawan Kumar Aggarwal — appointed by the court to conduct forensic audit of Amrapali Group, said they have not yet received all the documents. The bench termed it as “gross violation” of the court’s order.
The court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by home buyers who are seeking possession of around 42,000 flats.
When the group’s counsel said they have handed over documents to the auditors as called for by them, the bench said, “You are again telling a lie to this court. When they (auditors) are saying that they have not received the documents, you should be the first person to hand over them the documents as per orders of this court.”
The bench also questioned as to why the group has not yet handed over account books of the companies to the auditors.
“The flat buyers are saying that their money has been siphoned off. It can easily be found out from account books. As of now, nobody knows where the money has gone. You are definitely playing hide and seek with the accounts. The intent is to interfere with the process of law,” the bench said.
“Here the design is very clear. You are trying to buy time to do something,” it said, adding, “You are doing it deliberately. Every time you are doing this.”
When the group’s counsel sought “one last chance” from the court to hand over the documents, the bench said, “We have given you more than enough time. We have not left any stone unturned to make them comply with our orders”.
The apex court observed that account books of the group were finalised by their internal and statutory auditors till 2015 only and there were apparently no records of account books from then on till now.
