Arbitrary land auction, court orders registry from registrar
Dr. Nowhera Sheikh accepts going to jail but refuses to bow to injustice
New Delhi / Hyderabad (Report: Matiur Rehman Aziz) The recent hearing in the Supreme Court of India regarding the Heera Group of Companies has once again made the case a topic of fresh debate. According to the company’s position, this action has further strengthened the impression that the position of the agencies was given more importance in the investigation and judicial process, while the objections of the company and its investors did not get the desired attention. The company says that it cooperated in the judicial process from the beginning, but on several occasions its legal objections and demands were not heard effectively. Heera Group Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Nowhera Sheikh, maintains that she never tried to escape the law but defended her position through legal procedures at every stage. According to him, if he has to choose between injustice and justice, he will prefer legal struggle at all costs rather than bowing down to injustice.
According to the company, the Supreme Court had allowed the auction of only a limited number of properties, but later the agencies auctioned more properties than that. Moreover, the auction of about fifty additional properties was also announced on the MSTC website. Heera Group says that Dr. Nowhera Sheikh continuously demanded that the company be informed about the details of each property, its price and the complete record of the auction so that transparency is maintained, but according to him, this information was not provided. The company further claims that Dr. Nowhera Sheikh was neither given proper information nor was she involved in the process regarding the registry process, while later the court took the position that the registry could not be done. Later, the court issued a direction to complete the registry process by seeking a list of local registrars.
During the hearing, Dr. Nowhera Sheikh’s lawyer raised the point that it has not yet been clarified how many real claimants are with SFIO and what is the total value of the claim. The agency told the court that about 14,000 people have submitted their claims. The company’s lawyer objected to this and said that the list presented was not completely clear and the claims of some people have been included in it more than once, due to which the actual number is yet to be determined. The court remarked at this stage that the registry process should be completed first, after which all the claims will be examined, verified and legally investigated during the trial. On the other hand, the company claims that the total amount of real liabilities is around Rs 50 crore and the number of real beneficiaries will come out only after the final verification. Some people are considering the recent court proceedings as a quick payment or a success for investors, but legally the matter is still in its initial stages. According to the legal process, the amount of the auctioned properties will first be deposited with the relevant government department. After that, the amount will be transferred to the legal supervision through the relevant authority or SFIO as per the court’s directions. Then the formal trial will begin, in which each claimant will have to present evidence of his claim. At this stage, the list of all claimants will be checked to find out who is the real investor, who invested how much, who has already received how much money or profit from the company, and who still owes how much. If a person has already received more than his original investment, then according to legal principles, recovery of the excess amount may also be possible. Similarly, those whose liabilities are proven, will be paid their rights after the completion of the relevant legal proceedings. This entire process may take several years and its duration will depend on the speed of the court proceedings.
Hera Group says that over the past twenty-five years, it has done financial transactions with millions of investors and a large number of them still trust the company. According to the company, this is why many of its investors want their cases to be settled directly through the Heera Group. The company also maintains that the interest of some elements in the current proceedings seems to be limited to the sale of properties, while the real objective should be to provide timely and fair justice to the investors. Supporters of the Heera Group say that Dr. Nowhera Sheikh waged a long legal battle to protect the interests of the investors, endured the hardships of imprisonment and imprisonment, but did not give up her stand. According to them, if she had bowed to pressure at any stage, the company might not have existed and the interests of the investors would have been further affected. They say that Dr. Nowhera Sheikh has always believed that if the struggle is fought within the ambit of the law۔
Arbitrary land auction, court orders registry from registrar Dr. Nowhera Sheikh accepts going to jail but refuses to bow to injustice
