The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) on Friday submitted before the Kerala High Court that no investigation has been initiated into the issue of masala bonds by the Union government entities such as the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).
In a reply to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) affidavit and challenging the summons issued to Chief Executive Officer of KIIFB K.M. Abraham, KIIFB pointed out that the NTPC had issued masala bonds in 2016 on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and raised ₹2 crore for developing renewable energy market. The NHAI launched masala bonds on LSE in 2017, raising ₹3 crore to accelerate the development of transport infrastructure. These bonds were the largest inaugural transaction in the masala bond market.
Besides, the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) had also launched such bonds and raised around ₹30 crore. Certain private companies including HDFC had also issued masala bonds. The KIIFB added that despite the High Court directive to specifically state whether the launch of masala bonds by any other entities was being probed, the ED did not answer the query in its affidavit.
‘Infra plans affected’
It also said that the present investigation entailed extremely deleterious consequences on the projects approved by the KIIFB in the State. The delay in the investigation had not only violated the fundamental rights of the petitioners but also affected the infrastructure plans and their execution.
The present probe was a roving one. Besides, the ED had not disclosed any material reason or suspicion for launching the present investigation. The ED had also failed to disclose the alleged violation of the FEMA committed by the petitioners. The action of the ED were illegal.
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