Present: Sh. Rajiv Goyal, Adv. Cl. for the complainant.

Sh. Sukhmandar Singh, Authorised Representative of opposite parties No. 1 and 2.

Heard.  

   The complainant filed the present complaint against the OPs for refund the money deposited with the OPs along with interest, compensation and litigation expenses.

   Notice of the complaint was issued to the OPs who appeared in this Forum and filed an application for dismissal of the present complaint in view of the orders dated 02.02.2016 passed by our Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Civil Appeal No. 13301 of 2015 titled "Subrata Bhattacharya Vs Securities and Exchange Board of Inida". The OPs pleaded that vide above said order the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India ordered  that “ SEBI shall constitute a Committee for disposing of the land purchased by the Company so that the sale proceeds can be paid to the investors, who have invested their funds in the Company for purchase of the land. Hon'ble Mr. Justice R.M. Lodha, the former Chief Justice of India, would be the Chairman of the said Committee. It would be open to the Hon'ble Chairman of the Committee to appoint such experts or other persons, as he might think it necessary, in consultation with the SEBI, so as to enable the Committee to sell the land and pay to the investors in a manner that might be decided by the said Committee.”

 So in view of the order of the Hon'ble Apex Court, the present complaint may be dismissed.

Notice of this application given to the complainant who filed reply to the application taking objection that the application filed by OPs is false, frivolous and vexatious and not maintainable in the present form. The order passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of is only an interim order and the complainant was not party in that case, so it is not binding upon the complainant. He is consumer of the OPs and there is deficiency in service on the part of the OPs. He further stated that vide order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India that there is no-where mention that Consumer Court has no power to dispose of the present complaint and this Forum has no concern with the order of other Courts and the present complaint is on separate footing than the other Courts, so the present application may be dismissed and the present complaint may be decided on merits.

Along with the application the OPs filed copy of the order dated 02.02.2016 and copy of the letter dated 17.02.2016 issued by Securities & Exchange Board of India vide which they constituted Committee as per directions issued by Hon'ble Supreme Court of India vide its order dated 02.02.2016. Vide its order dated 02.02.2016 Hon'ble Supreme Court directed that OP shall not collect any further amount from any of the investors. The SEBI shall constitute a Committee for disposing of the land purchased by the Company so that the sale proceeds can be paid to the investors, who have invested their funds in the Company for purchase of the land. Hon'ble Mr. Justice R.M. Lodha, the former Chief Justice of India, would be the Chairman of the said Committee. It would be open to the Hon'ble Chairman of the Committee to appoint such experts or other persons, as he might think it necessary, in consultation with the SEBI, so as to enable the Committee to sell the land and pay to the investors in a manner that might be decided by the said Committee. A Nodal Officer shall be appointed, who shall be in-charge of the funds so collected and shall have a liaison with the Committee and shall also work as a Secretary to the said Committee. The Committee shall collect relevant record, including Title Deeds from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), if the CBI is in possession of any of the documents. Copies of the Title Deeds shall also be given to the Company so that the Company can also assist the Committee in the process of sale of the land. The CBI is directed to hand over the documents, after retaining their copies, which might be required by the SEBI, so as to enable the Committee to sell the land. The CBI will be entitled to use the photocopies of the Title Deeds, which will be handed over to it for Court proceedings. The methodology with regard to recovery of amount by sale of the land and disbursement of the amount to the investors shall be overseen by the Members of the Committee.

 It is further held that it would be open to the Hon'ble Chairman to make modification in the afore-stated arrangement and he is empowered to do whatever he thinks proper for disposal of the land and disbursement of the proceeds to the investors. The amount, which is lying in the bank accounts of the Company and other cash belonging to the Company shall be released in favour of SEBI so that it can be used either for disbursement in favour of the investors or for incurring necessary expenditure. If any amount has been deposited by the Company or by its Directors or by any other person on behalf of the Company in any Court, the same shall be released in favour of the SEBI, who shall have a separate account so as to deal with the same. The Committee shall also decide as to whether the staff of the Company should be continued or relieved. The decision with regard to sale of property of the Company by the Committee shall not be interfered with by any Court.

 It is clear that the complainant filed the present complaint for refund of the amount invested by him with the OP company, so in view of the above said order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India vide which they directed to constitute Committee to sell properties of the Company to disburse that amount among the investors of the company and vide their order they further directed to release any amount which are lying in any bank account and deposited on behalf of the Company in any Court in favour of SEBI to pay the same to the investors of the company. The Hon'ble Supreme Court held that the decision with regard to sale of property of the company by the committee shall not be interfered by any Court.

So, in these circumstances, we are of the considered opinion that this Forum is unable to pass any enforceable and executable order against the opposite parties and further as per directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, this Forum has left with no jurisdiction to decide the present complaint and only the Committee formed by SEBI as per orders of the Hon'ble Apex Court has jurisdiction to entertain the claim of the complainant and to refund the amount invested by him with OP company.

So in these circumstances, we dispose of the present complaint accordingly. The complainant is at liberty to file his claim before the competent Committee constituted by SEBI, as per directions of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India. Copy of this order be supplied to the parties free of cost as per Rules. File be consigned to the record after due compliance.

Announced in open Forum.