E-Paper
Identify properties of Pearls Group in the state: CM Bhagwant Mann to officials
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday directed deputy commissioners to identify all the properties of the Pearls Group in their respective districts
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday directed deputy commissioners to identify all the properties of the Pearls Group in their respective districts. The company is accused of duping 5.50 crore investors across the country of ₹60,000 crore.
Chairing a virtual meeting with the deputy commissioners, commissioners of police and senior superintendent of police, the chief minister said that the group committed a huge fraud with the people of the state for which it must be held accountable. He said that every deputy commissioner must identify the properties of the group in their respective district and submit it to the state government. “A state-level list will be compiled in consonance with the directions of the Supreme Court and Justice (RM) Lodha committee,” Mann said.
The Supreme Court had appointed a committee headed by the former chief justice of India RM Lodha to oversee the refund to the investors.
The chargesheet, in this case, was filed in April 2016, after the CBI arrested Pearls group chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) Nirmal Singh Bhangoo and his accomplices in January of the same year. Despite a Supreme Court ban in 2016, PACL India Limited or the Pearls Group, disposed of properties worth ₹1,200 crore bought with investors’ money till a case was registered against it in 2020.
Mann said that the deputy commissioner and commissioner of police or senior superintendent of police must appoint SDMs and DSPs as the nodal officers of their respective subdivisions for identifying properties. Mann said that revenue records must be checked at the grassroots level to ensure complete transparency in the process.
“Red entries must be made in the revenue records so that no one can sell or purchase this property,” Mann said. He said that top priority must be accorded to this work, adding that any callousness in this work is unwarranted and undesirable. Mann asked the chief secretary and director general of police to personally supervise this work for its smooth execution in a time-bound manner.
