The Delhi Excessive Court docket on Monday requested the market regulator to take cost of the winding up of the fraud-hit Arihant Mangal (Progress) Scheme, launched by CRB Capital Markets Ltd greater than three a long time in the past.
Justice Pratibha M. Singh dissolved the Particular Committee shaped in 2013 that had been overseeing the mutual fund scheme, noting that it had did not correctly discharge its duties, and directed the Securities and Trade Board of India (Sebi) to imagine full accountability for finishing the winding up.
Singh directed Sebi to kind a Particular Cell to take management of all information, pending proceedings, and remaining funds, and mandated a forensic audit of the mutual fund scheme.
The winding up is now to be accomplished inside one 12 months.
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Necessary forensic audit
“In view of the circumstances and the style of distribution adopted by the Particular Committee, the Court docket permits Sebi to conduct a forensic audit of all information, financial institution accounts, and paperwork pertaining to the Arihant Mangal Progress Scheme,” the order notes.
The scheme, launched in 1994 by CRB promoter Chain Roop Bhansali, collected ₹229.28 crore from 19,396 buyers, together with 19,324 people and 72 institutional buyers, throughout its subscription interval from 19 August to twenty September 1994. Investigations revealed that enormous parts of the funds had been diverted to promoters, their relations, and associated firms, as an alternative of benefiting buyers.
The CRB Group, comprising a mutual fund, service provider financial institution, and NBFC, rapidly grew to become a notable participant in India’s monetary markets.
Nonetheless, Sebi inspections quickly revealed regulatory violations, mismanagement, and systemic deficiencies, resulting in a 1996 prohibition towards CRB launching new schemes.
Concurrently, the RBI filed a winding-up petition towards CRB Capital Markets Ltd, and Sebi initiated a belief petition towards CRB Trustees Ltd. and related entities.
In 1997, the Bombay Excessive Court docket appointed a provisional administrator (P.A.) to handle the fund and authorised partial repayments to small buyers holding as much as 10,000 models at a NAV of ₹4.95 per unit.
The case was transferred to the Delhi Excessive Court docket in 2007.
Following the P.A.’s demise in 2012, the Delhi Excessive Court docket shaped a 3-member Particular Committee in 2013, comprising a retired district decide, a Sebi nominee, and a nominee from the ex-management, to supervise the formal winding up and reimburse buyers proportionally.
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Nonetheless, the committee’s functioning got here below scrutiny. The courtroom discovered it unlawfully disbursed ₹131.9 crore (62% of the overall ₹211 crore disbursed) to the CRB Group—together with Bhansali, his relations, and sister firms—in violation of a 1999 Bombay Excessive Court docket order.
It additionally failed to keep up transparency, disclosing these funds solely after a 2023 courtroom order. Investigations revealed that CRB-connected nominees influenced the committee’s selections, offered workplace premises, and deputed employees, whereas each the chairman and Sebi nominee failed to stop funds to CRB-related entities.
The Delhi Excessive Court docket has now mandated that Sebi’s Particular Cell take over all obligations, full a forensic audit inside three months, and guarantee a good disbursement of the remaining funds to all buyers, restoring transparency and accountability within the long-delayed winding-up course of.
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