HC grants relief to micro finance firm

Chennai: The Madras high court, which is closed for summer vacation, held a special sitting on Tuesday and restrained liquidation of 2.8 crore deposited by a city-based micro finance firm.Justice C Saravanan passed the interim order on an urgent plea moved by Adith Micro Finance Foundation, represented by advocate Sanjay Pinto, challenging the liquidation process initiated by Credit Access Grameen Limited and Bandhan Bank Limited.According to the petitioner, it acted as an agent of Credit Access Grameen with a contractual mandate to sell loans in return for a nominal service fee.The petitioner was required to maintain a deposit of 10% of the outstanding loans sanctioned by Credit Access Grameen. While the petitioner was mandated to maintain 95.5 lakh as per the condition, it maintained 2.8 crore in the deposit account.While so, through an email dated April 21 Credit Access Grameen has made an ‘unconscionable and bizarre claim over the entire deposit instead of the agreed 10%, advocate Sanjay Pinto for the petitioner said.Since Credit Access Grameen failed to respond to the notices issued by the petitioner, the firm has approached the high court.