Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Contributory Provident Fund Trust moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to recover dues from Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL). The Trust, which manages the provident fund of employees of Power Corporation, claimed that the beleaguered non-banking lender owed it more than Rs 148 crore that it invested in DHFL’s fixed deposits.
The rip-off surfaced in November last year and the state government tasked the the Economic Offences Wing of UP Police with conducting the probe. So far, several officers of the power utility, including former MD AP Mishra, sharebrokers and DHFL employees, have been arrested.
The state government had also undertaken the guarantee to pay provident fund to power employees if the Trust failed to honour the obligation.
A separate application was filed by a group of deposit holders who sought release of their fixed deposits. A counsel representing the Trust and deposit holders told the tribunal that claims have been made with Committee of Creditors (COC) to DHFL through email apart from representations.
Meanwhile, UPPCL sources said that the two-member bench of NCLT, comprising judicial member Rajasekhar VK and technical member Ravikumar Duraisamy, had granted two weeks’ time to DHFL’s administrator to reply and directed the Trust to wait for the CoC’s decision.
The sources said that DHFL’s administrator, however, sought more time to respond. The DHFL informed the tribunal that the next meeting of creditors may be held this month. The dispute stems from Bombay High Court and Debt Recovery Tribunal’s interim orders to hold repayment by home financier to its fixed depositors.
On November 20, Reserve Bank of India had superseded the Board of DHFL in light of governance concerns and defaults by DHFL in meeting various payment obligations. The RBI also appointed ex-MD and CEO of Indian Overseas Bank R Subramaniakumar as administrator of DHFL. The government had accorded RBI the power to appoint administrator in the last Union Budget. DHFL is one of the biggest defaulters in the country that owes almost Rs 1 lakh crore (over $14 billion) to its debtors.