Shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance (IBH) ended nearly 5 per cent lower on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) amid reports that a public interest litigation has been filed against the company and its promoters.
The IBH scrip ended 4.95 per cent lower at ₹425.75 apiece on the BSE on Friday, and dropped 9.31 per cent to hit a 52-week low of ₹406.20 apiece during intra-day trade.
The company, which is in the midst of a merger with Lakshmi Vilas Bank, said it is “determined to fight out petitioners in court”.
Inspections by regulators
For past three months, IBH is undergoing inspections by regulators as part of the merger process, it said in a regulatory filing.
“It has come to our notice through media that a PIL has been filed against the company (IBH) and promoters in the Delhi High Court. The petition has not yet been filed in High Court as per its website, but was leaked in social media with malicious intent to create turbulence in IBH stock price,” it said.
It further said that the purported PIL admits that the allegations are the same as in the earlier petition filed by Abhay Yadav, which was later withdrawn.
“Abhay in his statement admitted that allegations against IBH were based on incorrect and twisted data and that he had filed it at the behest of the mastermind of a blackmailing racket and he has been arrested and is in jail,” IBH said, adding that the petitioners have chosen the route of PIL to attract attention and play into the hands of blackmailers and corporate rivals at a sensitive time of merger with Lakshmi Vilas Bank.