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The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has rubbished the findings made by law firm Vaish Associates and said that the books of fraud hit CG Power should not be opened as the case is under investigation.
In the hearing, the Mumbai Bench of the tribunal ruled that the Vaish report cannot be trusted as the company was appointed by CG Power and therefore not independent. Further, the accounts cannot be opened as per Vaish report due to the fact that SEBI has already appointed an agency which should be allowed to conclude its work.
The issue relates to an investigation ordered by CG Power Board on its former Chairman Gautam Thapar, for alleged financial wrongdoing.
Following this, Thapar was removed as Chairman and CG Power is under the SFIO lens for misappropriation of advances to related and unrelated parties to the tune of ₹1,990.36 crore and ₹2,663 crore, respectively, as on March 2018. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) last month approached NCLT seeking to reopen the financial statements of CG Power Industrial Solutions for the period ranging from 2015-19.
The ruling vindicates claims made by Thapar in the past that the Vaish report is biased, interim and heavily disclaimed and designed to manipulate the CG share price and oust him as Chairman, sources said.
Thapar insists that transactions took place with due approval of the Board. The tribunal has set the next hearing date on January 9, 2020.