Pune: Depositors hoping to get their money back by auctioning off properties owned by builder D S Kulkarni (DSK) have been disappointed during the lockdown. The wait for depositors has been further heightened by the fact that no concrete decision on the auction has been taken in the last five months since the COVID-19 outbreak was reported in the state.
The court on January 20 directed the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and the state government to issue a public notice to auction the confiscated assets of builder DSK. About 463 immovable and movable properties of DSK and their relatives have been seized. After the notice was issued, anyone having any objection to the property concerned is expected to appear in court and register their objection. The court had clarified that further action would be taken once those objections were settled. Accordingly, there were about 93 objections registered by citizens.
Among the depositors who have invested with DSK are a large number of senior citizens. Meeting their daily needs has also become difficult for these investors. Therefore, there is a constant demand from them to pay their amounts back by auctioning the properties owned by DSK immediately. The proceeds from the sale of the properties will be disbursed to the banks from which DSK first borrowed. The balance will then be paid to the depositors. DSK has assets across the state including Pune, Vani and Lonavala. The government estimates that their sales could fetch around Rs 1,500 crore.
DSK's six vehicles were sold through a public auction in February. Out of this 39.45 lakh rupees have been collected. Earlier, the court had directed the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) police to prepare a plan and submit it to the court on how Rs 6.65 crore deposited by DSK in the court and the money collected after the sale of vehicles could be distributed among the depositors.
Defense Counsel Advocate Ashish Patankar said, "Assets owned by Shirish Kulkarni and DSK Motors Pvt Ltd have been requested to be excluded from the auction. We have raised objections regarding 14 assets. The court has been asked to comply with the order issued by the National Company Law Tribunal regarding the auction."
