THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE DHFL SCAM

“Chronology Samjhiye”!

Posted on 15/10/2022

Updated on 09/03/2023 (IST 22:58 hrs)

INTRODUCTION

The Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. (henceforth DHFL) is a deposit-taking Housing Finance NBFC regulated by the National Housing Bank (NHB) headquartered in Mumbai with branches in major cities across India. DHFL was established (11 April 1984) to enable access to economical housing finance to the lower and middle income groups in semi-urban and rural parts of India. DHFL is the second housing finance company to be established in the country. The company also leases commercial and residential premises. DHFL is among the 50 biggest financial companies in India. [Source: Wikipedia⤡].

Given below is a short and summarized history of the biggest financial scam that the Indian economy ever witnessed. We hope that the following table will aid the DHFL Victims (which include the Indian Air Force, Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited, the Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, Sasakawa Indian Leprosy Foundation, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Jesuit Conference of India, Jiv Prakash Vidyapeeth, Jesuits of Santal Society, Asha Deep Society, Mokama Nazareth Hospital Society, Kerala Jesuit Society, Chotparua Jesuit Society, The Society of Sacred Heart College, Satya Nilayam, Indian Social Institute, Bangalore etc.) across all national and international forums for justice.

DATE	DESCRIPTION
08.11.2016	Demonetization policy was announced that promised: An end to the rule of black money An end of Terrorism An end of counterfeit money
11.04.2019—19.05.2019	Indian General Elections were held. BJP won the election by getting a majority of 36%.
28.01.2019	“Be prepared for one or two major shocks in the NBFC sector”: Mr. Ajay Piramal declared. HOW DID MR. AJAY PIRAMAL, AN INSIDER TRADER, PREDICT SUCH CATASTROPHIC SITUATION? IS IT ALL PREDETERMINED? WHO IS AJAY PIRAMAL? VIEW HERE ⤡
29.01.2019	Cobrapost announced its findings on the biggest financial scam: DHFL. The BJP was found to be involved in the scam. Cobrapost also pointed out “terror-funding” as part of the scam. The nexus/collusion amidst DHFL, RKW Developers (Dheeraj Realty), the BJP and the Dawood Ibrahim-Iqbal Mirchi Gang was thereby revealed.DESPITE MANY VIGILANT GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES, HOW DID COBRAPOST (a non-governmental agency) KNOW ABOUT SUCH FACTUAL MISHAPPENINGS?False allegations on the collusion among the BJP, Dawood-Mirchi and the DHFL: A Letter to the BJP President VIEW HERE ⤡AN RTI ON THE ALLEGED COLLUSION AMONG DAWOOD-MIRCHI-RKW-DHFL-BJP VIEW HERE ⤡
29.01.2019—30.01.2019	DHFL rebutted all the allegations of Cobrapost. Indian Credit Rating Agencies reaffirmed their high safety rating (AAA rating) for the financial instruments issued by DHFL. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DECEPTIVE AUDITING OF THE DHFL? AN RTI TO THE CAG OF INDIA VIEW HERE ⤡
06.06.2019	DHFL defaulted on its debt repayment, resulting in a debt rating downgrade.
30.09.2019—10.10.2019	The Honourable High Court of Bombay in the case of Reliance Nippon Life Insurance v/s DHFL passed orders that restrained DHFL from making payments to any of its secured/unsecured creditors, including the payments to any fixed deposit holders. DHFL was paying its FD and NCD holders till that time.
20.11.2019	Under Section 45-IE (I) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, the Indian central bank removed the board of directors of the DHFL. The reasons cited by the banking regulator for the dismissal of the DHFL board of directors were: inadequate governance and the various defaults on its payment obligations. The Reserve Bank of India vide its Order No. DOR NBFC(PD) 986/03.10.136/2019-20 dated 20th November, 2019, superseded the Board of Directors of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. under Section 45 IE of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934; and has appointed Shri R. Subramaniakumar as its Administrator with effect from 20th November 2019. The RBI has also, by its press release dated 22 November 2019, constituted a 3-member committee under Section 45 IE of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, to act as advisors to the Administrator, who is also the resolution professional under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC 2016). This is the first time that a shadow bank came under the IBC Act, which has been amended 34 times!
03.12.2019	CIRP initiated by an order of the NCLT (C.P. (IB)-4258/MB/2019)
28.04.2020	Banks wrote off 68k crore loans of the superrich wilful defaulters.
14.12.2020	DHFL’s erstwhile promoter Kapil Wadhawan offered to repay DHFL’s creditors in full. CoC rejects it almost immediately. (cf. “Bankruptcy will not void personal guarantees”: Supreme Court. 21/05/2021) ⤡
03.12.2019 — 17.01.2021	19 meetings were conducted by the CoC within the pandemic period. Competing bidders included Adani Group, Oaktree Capitals, Piramal Group etc. The Resolution Plan submitted by Piramal Group was finally approved by the CoC, avoiding highest bidder Oaktree. On 03/12/2021, Oaktree Capitals alleged bias/partiality of the CoC in favour of the Piramal Group. Wadhawan reiterated his offer for 100% repayment, but it again fell on deaf ears.
18.02.2021	RBI blindly approved the Resolution Plan of Piramal.Demanding Expulsion of Mr. Shaktikanta Das, Governor, The Reserve Bank of India: A letter to the President of India VIEW HERE ⤡
22.02.2021	DHFL case: Auditor Grant Thornton unearthed another fraudulent transaction by the DHFL through Forensic Auditing.
24.03.2021	CBI filed a new suit against DHFL and its promoters Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan, wherein the latter were accused of siphoning off the welfare subsidy fund of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana by creating 260,000 fake home loan accounts under the same scheme under the guise of a non-existent branch (“The Bandra Books”).HOW COULD ONE OPEN FAKE BANK ACCOUNTS AFTER THE SUCCESSFUL DEMONETIZATION AND THE AADHAAR-PAN LINKING PROCESS? AN OPEN LETTER TO MODIJI: THE HORNS OF THE DEMONETIZATION DILEMMA VIEW HERE ⤡
19.05.2021	The NCLT ordered the CoC to reconsider DHFL’s erstwhile promoter Wadhawan’s offer of 100% repayment within 10 days. NCLT order on the DHFL-case ⤡ [IA 2431 of 2020 in CP (IB) 4258/MB/C-II/2019 Under Section 60 (5), 227 (2), 239 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016] points 16-19 and 84-89.
25.05.2021	NCLAT set aside NCLT’s order after the Union Bank of India and Ajay Piramal approached the NCLAT with an urgent petition. The CoC did not even bother to answer the NCLT.HOW DID MR. AJAY PIRAMAL GET SUCH JUDICIAL PRIVILEGE IN NCLAT, GIVEN THE NUMBER OF PENDING CASES IN THE INDIAN COURTS?Piramal is more equal than the other 98%!VIEW HERE ⤡
07.06.2021	NCLT is forced to approve the resolution plan in favour of the Piramals.
14.06.2021	DHFL’s shares got delisted on BSE & NSE.
03.08.2021T	The Standing Committee of the Parliament of India on Finance raps IBC over unsustainable haircuts, says 13,000 cases worth Rs 9 lakh crore are pending. The committee recommended that the design and implementation of IBC must be revisited and a benchmark must be set for the quantum of haircuts. Thus, the conduct of CoCs under IBC got questioned.
September 2021	Mr. Ajay Piramal started disbursing merely 23% of the total FD amount to the respective FD Holders of DHFL, the rest of the amount going for a major haircut. Financial deprivation (curtailment of business-related human rights due to financial abuse) of thousands of FD and NCD Holders is apparent.
27.01.2022	Following the case filed by 63 Moons Technologies (the case questioned the deal of Piramal’s resolution plan, wherein the approx. 45k crore worth of assets were bought by paying only a rupee. 63 Moons cited the Section 66 of the IBC, which provides for the benefit of all the creditors of the insolvent company) the NCLAT passed an order that declared the illegality of the DHFL CoC, its conduct and the allocation of the resolution amount as well.NCLAT asks CoC to consider 63 moons’ plea in DHFL Resolution Plan VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 27th January, 2022 ©The Times of India) NCLAT-ORDER-27-01-2022-1
01.03.2022	Piramal approached the Supreme Court, challenging the NCLAT Second Order.
08.03.2022	Wadhawan approached the Supreme Court with his previous offer that was rejected by the CoC.
11.04.2022	The Supreme Court stayed the NCLAT Order. Despite the fact that the case is under adjudication or sub judice, Piramal CHF acquired DHFL by using dubious company names: Piramal CHF and Piramal Finance.Cf.· AN RTI ON “WHO OWNS DHFL NOW: PCHF OR PIRAMAL FINANCE?” VIEW HERE ⤡· The Dilemma of schizophrenic selves: the changing names of companies under the Piramal Group: A letter to Mr. Ajay Piramal VIEW HERE ⤡· An RTI to the Department of Legal Affairs regarding the disputed ownership status of the DHFL VIEW HERE ⤡
23.04.2022	The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor and Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan siphoned off funds worth Rs 5,050 crore through suspicious transactions to fill up the gaps created by terror-funding/political charity.
25.06.2022	The BJP received 27.5 crore worth of donations from the scam-hit DHFL, the Congress declared.
11.08.2022	Government appoints four independent & unofficial directors on RBI central board, perhaps due to the incompetency of RBI Governor Mr. Shaktikanta Das (MA History)!

CONCLUSION

After the “successful” demonetization process, this type of money laundering/terror funding cannot be possible.
After Aadhaar-PAN linking process for all bank accounts, it is impossible to open fraudulent accounts.
All the untimely legal cases related to the DHFL scam have been ‘disposed of’ except the one filed by the 63 Moons Technologies.
Despite the fact that NCLAT declared the CoC as “contrary to law”, Piramal is conducting his Housing Finance business (by using dubious company names) as if nothing has really happened, as if there are no legal hurdles obstructing his path! It is only possible under the crony autocratic regime.

See Also: