Court’s order to initiate sale of DSK properties puts aggrieved investors in another ‘wait and watch’ mode

Pune Despite Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act (MPID) court asking the government to initiate sale of DSK properties attached by the enforcement

Published on: Jan 21, 2020, 21:29:10 IST

By HT Correspondent

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Pune Despite Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act (MPID) court asking the government to initiate sale of DSK properties attached by the enforcement directorate (ED) on Monday, investors are doubtful.

“This is not the final order. Instead this is the first step into a lengthy procedure before we get our dues. A majority of the investors are senior citizens who invested their life’s earnings with DSK. We have already lost 17 of these senior citizens in the span of the case (Since when?) so far. We hope that the court gives investors first priority instead of banks and government institutions when the sale happens,” said Deepak Phadnis of Chaitanya Vatika Group on behalf of 900 residents who have invested in various DSK’s projects and funds.

Vijay Kumbhar, right to information (RTI) activist said,“The public prosecutor has been asked to issue a notice to invite people to stake claim on any of the properties belonging to DSK by the MPID court of judge Jayant Rane. There are 463 properties out of which 143 have been cleared with no claim. We need to wait until February 3 to see if any one comes forward to claim the remaining. Based on that will we be able to gauge how many properties will be on sale and then decide its worth before it is put on sale. It will be a while until investors are paid their dues.”

Deepak Sakharam Kulkarni (DSK), the Pune-based realtor, and his wife Hemanthi Kulkarni have been booked in investor fraud of over Rs 2,000 crore.

In February 2019, ED had attached DSK properties worth Rs 904 crore in various parts of Maharashtra. The money from the eventual auction of these properties will be used to pay back over 35,000 people who invested in the company through fixed deposits. The court has drawn a list of depositors who will benefit.