Steps have been initiated to attach the property of E.T. Feroze, son of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader E.T. Mohammad Basheer, MP, following non-repayment of a bank loan of over ₹200 crore.
The action was initiated on the basis of a petition moved by the Canara Bank and Punjab National Bank in the Kozhikode Chief Judicial Magistrate’s (CJM) Court saying that Mr. Feroze had failed to repay the loan for Annam Steels Pvt. Ltd. in Chennai. He is the managing director of the company.
The court-appointed advocate commission P.T Sreenarayanan Unni issued notices to Mr. Feroze and other directors stating that further action would be taken if the debt was not repaid by October 21.
This follows a directive by A. Fathima Beevi, Kozhikode CJM, on a petition filed against 21 respondents, including the company managing director and other directors. If the loan is not repaid, the commission has been empowered to take over about 15 mortgages, including a shopping complex in the city, and hand them over to the bank.
However, Mr. Feroze and others have sought time to repay the loans. They would approach a higher court against the recovery procedures. The case related to the company borrowing ₹200 crore from two banks in 2013. The loan was to procure iron scrap through auction from government-owned Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited.
The agreement was to repay the money within two years. The action was initiated now based on a petition filed by the banks in 2017 when the repayment was defaulted. The court had on the same day appointed the advocate commission. But the acquisition was delayed as Annam Steels approached a higher court.
Meanwhile, the CJM court has directed the advocate commission to take immediate action as the case is pending.
