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Diamantaire Nirav Modi’s HCL House price slashed, DRT orders re-auction in Feb

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Finding no takers for fugitive diamantaire Nirav D. Modi’s one property, its price has been slashed and the DRT has ordered its re-auction, along with certain other prime assets, in one of the cases pertaining to the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam.

Last week, the DRT-I Recovery Officer Ajeet Tripathi put up the HCL House in Marol for e-auction — plus three other lots of properties — to recover a portion of the outstanding of a staggering Rs 22,13,16,39,411.

When it went on the block in September 2022, the unsold HCL House, comprising the entire building with the land, carried a reserve price tag of Rs 52 crore, which has now been slashed to Rs 40 crore, as per the DRT-I announcement.

Besides, the DRT-I has put on the auction block other assets of Modi, including Offices No. 2001-2002 on the 20th floor of the posh Peninsula Park B in Lower Parel with a reserve price of Rs 66 crore, plus over Rs 1.72 crore outstanding maintenance dues till December 2021.

Another property of Modi, the 6th floor of the Mafatlal Centre in Nariman Point along with four parking slots will also go under the e-hammer with a reserve price of Rs 62 crore, besides unpaid maintenance charges for five years coming to over Rs 1.17 crore till May 2022.

Modi’s huge residential 4-BHK flat in Grosvenor House at Peddar Road is going up for auction sale with a reserve price of Rs 15.87 crore, further details of which are not available. Modi also has another address in the prestigious Al Shera Towers, Dubai.

The encumbrances or outstandings on HCL House and Grosvenor House are not known and all the properties shall be auctioned off on the basis of ‘as is where is’ and ‘as is what is’.

The e-auction is scheduled for February 10 — a week after the DRT-I ordered the sale of Modi’s two tony flats in the YOOPUNE housing scheme in Pune, valued at a total of Rs 18 crore, on February 3.

In the fresh auction list concerning PNB versus Firestar International Ltd, the names figuring are Modi and his group companies like Bentley Properties Pvt. Ltd., MAK Business Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., ANM Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., NDM Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., Neeshal Trading Pvt. Ltd. — all operating from a common address at Opera House.

The other companies are: Firestone Trading Pvt. Ltd., Paundra Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. and Radashir Jewellery Co. Ltd. — all registered in a single address at the Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) in Bandra Kurla Complex.

The February 3 and 10 e-auctions may help the PNB and a consortium of around 15 banks to recover a miniscule portion of massive dues, pending since the past five years after the country’s mega-banking scam was admitted by these banks in February 2018.

After the PNB’s complaint on the scam, estimated at over Rs 14,000 crore, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered the first offence in January 2018 — but by then Modi, his wife Ami and other accused had already fled India.

Later, other probe agencies like Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax Department (ITD) entered the picture targeting the two prime accused — Modi and his maternal uncle Mehul C. Choksi — but both had flown the coop well before the scam erupted to shake the roots of the Indian banking sector.

Later it came to light that Modi was holed up in London and Choksi has cosily settled as a citizen of Antigua & Barbuda Isles, West Indies, and both are awaiting their extradition to India — expectedly soon.

In the past, the ED-ITD had auctioned off certain movable and immovable assets — like properties, expensive paintings, artefacts, high-end vehicles, etc., — to recover small amounts of its dues.

“Proclamation of Sale under Rules 38, 52(2) of the Second Schedule of the Income Tax Act, 1961, read with the Recovery of Debts Due to Bank and Financial Institutions Act, 1993,” said the latest DRT-I order of January 5.

Maharashtra

ED took action on 15 places including Mithi river, cleanliness, irregularities, Dino Morea

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Dino Morea ED

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has raided 15 places including Mumbai in the irregularities case in the cleaning of the Mithi river. The Enforcement Directorate has also claimed to have seized many important documents related to the case while conducting raids in Mumbai and Kochi. The ED has also raided the house of film actor Dino Maurya. The EOW has registered the first FIR in this case, after which the Enforcement Directorate has now started a parallel investigation. The ED has taken this action under the PMLA Money Laundering Act. Dino Maurya has also been involved in this irregularity. The EOW has also questioned him and his brother.

It is said that Dino Maurya and Ketan are close to Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray. Now Dino’s troubles have increased. The EOW has found many important documents and evidence in the Mithi river corruption and irregularities case in Mumbai, so now the ED has also started its action in the case of misuse of funding and illegal tender purchase in this case. Many Shiv Sena leaders are also in the ambit of ED action, because during the Mithi river corruption scam, Shiv Sena was ruling the BMC, so the scope of investigation has become focused on Shiv Sena leaders. EOW has also made significant progress in its action in the Mithi river corruption case in Mumbai. More revelations are expected after the arrival of ED in this case. EOW has taken action against 13 people in this case so far and has also arrested them. In this, political leaders including BMC officials are also on the radar of ED.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai: MLA and SP leader Abu Asim Azmi appeals to avoid sacrificing animals in the open on Eid-ul-Azha

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Mumbai: Mumbai Maharashtra Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi has appealed to Muslims not to perform Qurbani in the open and also follow BMC and government guidelines. Cleanliness is half of faith, so take special care of cleanliness. Not only this, it is mandatory to follow all the guidelines and guiding principles set regarding Qurbani. Take special care of cleanliness and ensure that the brothers and sisters of the country do not face any kind of trouble on Eid-ul-Azha. This is the real teaching of Islam. Celebrate Eid with mutual love, brotherhood and following Sunnat Ibrahimi. Azmi said that the waste of Qurbani on Eid should also be kept in bags and thrown in the dustbin.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai Congress delegation meets Municipal Commissioner, expresses grave concern over poor condition of city

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Mumbai: Today, a high-level Congress delegation led by Mumbai Congress President and MP Prof. Varsha Tai Gaikwad met BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani. The delegation included MLA Aslam Shaikh, MLA Amin Patel, MLA Dr. Jyoti Tai Gaikwad, former corporator Haji Babbu Khan and other former corporators of Mumbai Congress.

Several important issues were raised in the meeting on administrative collapse, corruption and deterioration of public amenities in Mumbai.

‎🛑 Highlights of the meeting:

‎🔸 Increase in property tax without public approval
Violating the directions of the Supreme Court, the BMC increased property tax in the absence of elected representatives. The Congress strongly opposed this unconstitutional move and called it a financial burden on the people of Mumbai.

‎Scams in road construction
‎There is a possibility of massive corruption in the concreting of roads. Only 25% of the work has been completed so far and that too has been hampered by poor quality, damage to pipelines and serious irregularities in tendering – particularly in the inorganic phosphate based geo-polymer concrete tender.

‎🔸 Drain cleaning scam

Drain cleaning before the monsoon has become a sham. All the work has been handed over to contractors, no monitoring, no accountability. The Congress has demanded immediate and strict action.

‎🔸 Medical facilities in ICUs

BMC hospitals – like Baba, Rajawadi, Shatabdi and Bhagwati – are in a shambles. Patients are being forcibly sent to private hospitals, while privatisation of hospitals and delay in development work have worsened the problems.

‎🔸 Waste management
‎The sanitation system is already failing and now the BMC is considering imposing a “garbage tax”. In areas like Kurla and Borivali, the sewer line work has been incomplete for years.

‎🔸 Failure of the education system:

BMC school children have not yet been given books and uniforms. The commissioner has given a deadline of June 15. If this work is not completed, the Congress will again come out with questions on June 16.

‎🔸 Delay in housing schemes and PAP projects:

Housing schemes, PAP and redevelopment projects in areas like Andheri, Vakola, Khar have been victims of builder fraud, misuse of TDR and government negligence.

‎🔸 Other important issues

Corruption in central procurement process

Delay in approving hawking policy

Acute lack of facilities in Muslim graveyards

🗣️ Congress demands:

✅ ACB should investigate contractor mafia in BMC

✅ Independent audit of drain cleaning and road construction works

✅ Independent monitoring body should be formed for BMC tenders

Mumbai cannot be left at the mercy of a neglected and corrupt system. Congress will continue to fight at every level by becoming the voice of the people of Mumbai!

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