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Journalism of Courage
In another interesting turn to the controversy surrounding Sahara India Housing Limited’s Amby Valley mega-city project at Lonavla, seven of the eight affected villages have supported the project in the Bombay High Court today.
Residents of the project-affected villages, falling in the Kumberi and Ambavane village panchayats of Pune district, filed three intervention applications affirming the need for the multi-crore project. The applications were allowed by the division bench comprising Chief Justice M B Shah and RMS Khandeparkar.
The applications urged the court to allow the gram panchayats to function as intervening parties in the three public interest petitions which opposed the Amby Valley project.
The petitions had challenged the government’s policy of allowing private parties to develop hill stations in India. Of the earlier petitions, two are filed by the Bombay Environmental Action Group and the third by Shankar Brahma Samajvigyan Granthalaya, a Pune-based non-governmentalorganisation.
Counsel for the project-hit villagers, V A Thorat, contended that the locals were supporting the mega project because it would provide them job opportunities. It will also facilitate infrastructural facilities like schools, a police station and a primary health centre. The land too is barren and unable to reap rich returns, the villagers’ counsel argued adding that the project would be instrumental in bringing tar roads.
The division bench of Chief Justice M B Shah and S D Gundewar had directed Sahara India not to undertake any further construction of the project without prior permission from appropriate authorities. However, the court had not granted any interim relief. As a result, the BEAG had moved the Supreme Court of India by way of a a special leave petition on March 23 this year. Sahara India had then assured not to undertake further construction and also not to fell trees. The apex court then disposed of the appeal and directed the High Court to finally decide the matter withinthree weeks.
HC grants trader time to `revive’ co-operative bank
The Bombay High Court has granted one month’s time to a 78-year-old businessman who has offered to mobilise deposits worth Rs 10 crore for the loss-making Ravikiran Urban Co-operative Bank, Vikhroli.
The businessman, Dr Sudhir Laxman Hendre, is a shareholder-depositor of the bank. He claims to own 18 companies. “I am worth Rs 200 crore,” he had informed the court after the division bench of Chief Justice M B Shah and A Y Sakhare asked him the source of the huge sum during the last hearing.
However, when the matter came up before the division bench of the CJ and Justice M S Khandeparkar today, Hindre told the court he couldn’t fulfil the commitment due to “budgetary effects.” The court has now granted him additional time to raise the deposits. The bank was established in 1978 by persons belonging to the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes as a self-help measure. The district deputy registrar of Co-operative Societiesappointed an administrator for the bank on April 21, 1997. Obviously, the directorial board was dismissed in the process. Therefore, the directors filed a petition challenging their supercession.
When the petition was heard on April 27, Dr Hindre offered his helping hand to the bank. He said after he came to know of the administrator, he approached the directors and offered them to raise deposits in the next three months. He also assured to repay depositors with interest.
As a result, he was co-opted as a director. Soon, he became acting chairperson. Therefore, he told the court he should be allowed to fulfil his commitment to revive the bank.The court then directed him to pay Rs 3 crore as first installment to the bank, in the name of companies owned by him. However, Hindre couldn’t raise the sum till the June 8 deadline. The court has extended the time up to July 9.
The RBI has conducted around ten statutory inspections in the bank.Interestingly, the tenth inspection that ended on January 3, 1997,reported heavy erosion of the bank’s assets to the tune of Rs 295.98 lakh. The erosion has eaten up the entire paid up capital of the bank as well as deposits worth Rs 90.85 lakh. The accumulated losses of the bank were to the tune of Rs 139.04 lakh, and there were outstanding loans of Rs 130.62 lakh.
The Reserve Bank of India also issued a moratorium preventing the bank from issuing any fresh loans or accepting new deposits. It also sent a note to the district registrar of co-operative societies asking them to liquidate assets of the bank.
