Deccan Chronicle promoters booked on cheating charges

HYDERABAD: In a fresh bout of trouble for Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL), Hyderabad-based financial services player Karvy group has filed a police complaint against the promoters of DCHL leveling allegations of forgery and misrepresentation, among other things. Late in the night a case was booked.
The complaint was filed by representatives of Karvy against the three promoters - DCHL chairman T Venkattram Reddy as well as the company’s vice chairmen T Vinayak Ravi Reddy and PK Iyer -- at the Central Crime Station, Hyderabad, on Tuesday.The FIR lodged by the police invokes sections 420, 406, 458 and 471 read with Section 34 of IPC. Some of the sections are non-bailable.
According to top police sources, the Karvy group has filed the complaint on five major allegations, including breach of trust for concealing actual facts, inducing the company by misrepresentation of information, providing incorrect information for third party and introducing forged documents in the name of a Karvy company.
When contacted, both Hyderabad police commissioner Anurag Sharma and PJ Victor, deputy commissioner of police, Central Crime Station (CCS), Hyderabad, confirmed that they had indeed received a complaint from Karvy group against the promoters of DCHL . “We have received a complaint from Karvy,” Sharma told TOI.
Karvy group chairman C Parthasarathy when contacted said: ‘It has come to my notice that there are some irregularities. We are examining the facts of the case. We are only one depository participant, there are many others.”
Despite repeated attempts, DC promoters could not be reached for comment.
The latest development follows recent disclosures regarding pledging of shares to raise funds even as a nose-diving DCHL scrip once again hit an all-time low of Rs 15.25 on Tuesday, before recovering to close 7.5% down at Rs 15.45 on BSE.
While on July 26, 2012, the three DCHL promoters pledged 54% of their equity with Future Capital to raise around Rs 258 crore (going by the closing share price of Rs 22.90 on that day), on Monday Religare Finvest had informed the markets that 14.5% of DCHL stake had been pledged with it to secure “loan against securities”.
The latest blow comes even as state-run financial institution IFCI Limited has already filed a winding up petition against the company in AP High Court last week over failure to redeem Rs 25 crore worth of non-convertible debentures. In its plea, IFCI said DCHL was almost insolvent as it had liabilities running into thousands of crores that may lead to erosion of its entire networth and make it commercially unviable.