The Mumbai-bench of the National Company Law Tribunal on Friday issued a contempt notice to Axis Bank CEO Amitabh Chaudhry and Standard Chartered Bank India CEO Zarin Daruwala for allowing former IL&FS chief executive Ramesh Bawa’s family to withdraw money and access bank lockers in breach of its earlier order.
The parties have been given two weeks time to respond. The next hearing will be on June 7.
The Corporate Affairs Ministry had alleged that these banks allowed Mr. Bawa to withdraw and transfer money from their accounts to his wife Ashakiran and daughter Akansha, besides letting him access the lockers. The Ministry in a separate petition, also sought to implead Ms. Ashakiran and Ms. Akansha as they were the beneficiaries of these funds. “The bank has today been served with a copy of the contempt petition filed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The bank is examining the matter and will be filing its reply to the petition before the NCLT, Mumbai,” an Axis Bank spokesperson said in an e-mail.
“We would like to submit that the bank has highest regards for all orders passed by the courts/tribunals,” it added.
Standard Chartered Bank also said the bank would be responding to the contempt petition within the prescribed timeline.
