The Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) of Hyderabad on Monday issued notices to Deccan Chronicle Holdings (DCHL) for defaulting in payment of Rs 347-crore loan to Canara Bank, the lead banker of the Hyderabad-based media company.
The tribunal has also issued injunction orders restraining the media house from creating any third party interest on the properties that had already been mortgaged against the loan with the bank.
Canara Bank's local corporate branch in a petition filed before the tribunal stated that the DCHL management had not only failed to repay the loans but also fraudulently re-mortgaged the properties to other banks.
After hearing the contentions of the petitioner, the DRT has delivered two ex-party orders, first asking the DCHL management as to why it should not be directed to furnish sufficient security towards the original application claim. Failing to show cause, the scheduled property (property that had been mortgaged with Canara Bank) shall be attached, the tribunal orders said.
In a second order the tribunal restrained the management by way of injunction from alienating, or encumbering or creating a third party interest over all the scheduled properties. The tribunal has posted the case for further hearing on January 21, 2013, according to the petitioner's counsel.
Canara Bank is the latest one to initiate legal proceedings against the debt-ridden DCHL which has already been facing similar loan-default or check bounce cases, including a winding-up petition filed by a host of its lenders including ICICI, IFCI, Yes Bank, among others.
Incidentally, Canara Bank has also been conducting the forensic audit of the accounts of DCHL on behalf of the lenders consortium after the company started defaulting on loan payments.
