Posted on 25th August, 2025 (GMT 12:37 hrs)
ABSTRACT
This video is a direct appeal to India’s non-Godi media to break their silence on the DHFL scam—a financial catastrophe that destroyed the savings of pensioners, defence families, employees, and small investors while powerful corporations, auditors, rating agencies, and regulators escaped accountability. It exposes how political donations, celebrity endorsements, fraudulent credit ratings, judicial opacity, and sweetheart deals under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code enabled the systematic looting of public wealth and its transfer to oligarchs like Ajay Piramal. By demanding fearless reporting, a Judicial Truth and Accountability Commission, real penalties for gatekeepers, anti-SLAPP protections, and restitution for victims, the video insists that silence from independent media is not neutrality but complicity in state-corporate betrayal.
This is not for the government.
This is not for the big corporations.
This urgent message is for you—India’s non-Godi media.
The journalists, editors, whistleblowers and storytellers who still believe in the value of truth and justice.
I am Akhar Bandyopadhyay from Once in a Blue Moon Academia (OBMA), reaching out to our Non-Godi Media today with an urgent appeal.
Press freedom is being dismantled in this country today. We find ourselves in a claustrophobic situation: paid propaganda dominates the screens, while independent voices are systematically targeted. Yet, there is hope—in you, the journalists who represent the newly emerged and newly evolved fifth pillar of democracy: independent, crowd-funded reporters and journalists, rising as a backlash against the lies and propaganda machines of the so-called mainstream “Godi” media, manufactured and sustained by the fascist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). We are truly grateful to all of you for examining the feku lies of the oligarchs—that is, the systematic pseudology. But one story—massive and devastating—has still not received the wall-to-wall coverage it deserves: the collapse of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited, or DHFL. We did not ever expect Godi Media to cover the DHFL story, but we did expect you to. What is stopping you?
This is not just another corporate failure. This is about the shattered lives of ordinary people—retired pensioners, Indian air force families, UPPCL employees, and even philanthropic institutions—who lost their savings. Fixed deposits, non-convertible debenture holders’ savings— wiped out. These were not high-risk gamblers. These were citizens who trusted the system.
Since this scam has reduced us to paupers, we cannot offer you large contributions. Yet, for this cause alone, please do not ignore us—help us in the name of justice and democracy.
Let us tell you something on the key facts about this affair. Dear Non-Godi Media of India—reporting on these truths is not optional, it is your fearless journalistic duty in today’s undeclared emergency.
Over the years, serious allegations have emerged against DHFL and its promoters, Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan. Allegations of siphoning thousands of crores through shell companies. Allegations of links with underworld figures like Dawood Ibrahim’s and Iqbal Mirchi. Allegations of political donations to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party through terror-funding. These are not whispers—they have appeared in investigative reports and petitions. Why are they not the subject of relentless coverage by your independent media, since we don’t expect Godi Media to cover these facts at all?
Then there were the gatekeepers. Credit rating agencies like CARE Ratings and Brickwork Ratings continued to give DHFL the highest “AAA” rating almost until it collapsed in 2019. Investors took comfort in those ratings. The auditors—Chaturvedi & Shah LLP—failed in their duties, with regulators later penalizing them. But again—after the damage was done. Why are the failures of these agencies not being exposed daily on your independent news platforms?
The urgency of this failure was only reinforced recently. The Chandigarh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission’s July 31, 2025, verdict held auditors, CRAs, and regulators liable for misleading investors with AAA ratings and ordered compensation for an NCD holder. Despite Cobrapost’s 2019 exposé of siphoned money through shell companies, auditors violated ethical standards, and CRAs maintained AAA ratings seemingly due to conflicts in the issuer-pays model. No long-term prosecutions have followed, and depositors demand accountability, restitution, and reforms. How can auditors and CRAs escape accountability when lakhs of depositors lost their life savings based on their manufactured assurances?
And what about celebrity power? Shah Rukh Khan himself endorsed DHFL in television and print ads. For millions of Indians, if SRK vouched for it, it had to be safe. The Consumer Protection Act makes it clear: endorsers of financial products must exercise due diligence. If star power was used to sell these schemes, then star power must also be used to repair the damage. Why has no independent outlet dared to directly question our beloved SRK’s surprising silence? Did he not learn from how Mithun Chakraborty returned his money after the Saradha Chit or Ponzi fund scam?
The resolution process of DHFL made things worse. The Reserve Bank of India appointed a Committee of Creditors, a CoC, under the ill-conceived Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code as a test case as if the DHFL victims are mere lab-state guinea pigs. Depositors and small investors had no abiding voice at this table. The entire voting process was opaque. The voting questions presented to the small depositors were double-edged swords, and the question-answer data could not even be downloaded electronically—raising concerns that echo allegations of manipulation linked to the BJP–ECI nexus in the #VoteChori scam. The CoC, dominated by large banks, approved the sale of DHFL to Piramal Group at just around by equating 45k crore worth of assets for only one rupee. Critics allege that competing bids were sidelined and that Oaktree Capital’s higher offer was brushed away. Many sarcastically call it a sweetheart deal, a wealth transfer at the cost of lakhs of people’s miseries. Why has non-Godi media not put this process under a microscope?
And the courts? Let’s look at the timeline.
In May 2021, the National Company Law Tribunal in Mumbai directed the CoC to reconsider a settlement plan from the Wadhawan brothers that could have repaid them in full. Within a few days, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) stayed that order after the CoC and Mr. Piramal rushed to the NCLAT without answering the NCLT. Was it a contempt of court? The question remains to be asked by our non-Godi media!
In June 2021, NCLT approved Mr. Piramal’s resolution plan. In January 2022, the NCLAT itself noted irregularities and illegalities in the process, especially regarding gross undervaluation of assets. But within weeks, the Supreme Court stayed even that upon Piramal’s appeal. How is it that when millions of cases are pending in Indian courts, Piramal gets such fast-food justice? Is he more equal than others?
Finally, in April 2025, the Supreme Court gave its final verdict—endorsing Mr. Piramal’s resolution plan cementing steep haircuts for depositors. What is legal may not always be just. Where is the media outrage?
Meanwhile, some of the ordinary depositors connected to our OBMA who tried to speak up against all these injustice were hit with defamation suits. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation—SLAPPs—designed to intimidate, harrass and silence. The message was: stop talking, or we will drown you in legal harassment. Why isn’t the independent press raising the demand for a strong anti-SLAPP law in India?
And then comes the RTI stonewall. When DHFL victims filed Right to Information requests with the Reserve Bank of India, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, the CAG, even the Ministry of Corporate Affairs or Ministry of Finance—they were met with stock replies: “No records available.” “This does not fall under the RTI Act’s definition of “information”.” Transparency was denied at every level. RTI was created to give citizens light. Why is our non-Godi media not shouting about this darkness?
Friends in the independent media, step ahead. This is not a one-off case. We have seen Yes Bank, IL&FS, PMC Bank, and now DHFL. The playbook is the same: siphon off money at the top, crash the company, let ordinary savers take the haircut, and hand the remains to a favoured corporate tycoon, i.e., Adani Ambani and their family members like Piramal. This is not development. This is organized extraction and financial abuse. This is an infringement of human rights as per international law and also a violation of the Right to Livelihood as guaranteed by our domestic law: the Indian Constitution. Though we are aware that international law is the vanishing point of jurisprudence.
That is why I appeal to you—India’s non-Godi media. If you do not tell these stories, no one will. If you do not investigate, the truth will be erased. If you do not amplify, victims will remain invisible.
So here is what we must demand, and you must champion:
1. Tell the full truth of the DHFL depositors’ suffering.
Relentless, fact-based coverage of the human cost—the stories of seniors, defence families, widows, and ordinary citizens destroyed by the scam and the decisions that followed.
2. Call for a Judicial Truth & Accountability Commission.
Expose the entire chain of responsibility—from the Wadhawans, to the political donations to the BJP, to auditors like Chaturvedi & Shah, to rating agencies like CARE & Brickwork, to the RBI-appointed CoC, to Mr. Ajay Piramal’s acquisition, and even the final Supreme Court judgment. Demand an independent commission that re-examines everything.
3. Demand real liability for gatekeepers.
Auditors and rating agencies who whitewashed DHFL’s books must face penalties that repair public damage—not token fines that let them walk away.
4. Hold celebrity endorsers accountable.
Shah Rukh Khan must answer for promoting DHFL. A public apology, return of his endorsement fees, and participation in investor awareness campaigns are the least steps toward accountability.
5. Protect the voices of truth-tellers.
Push for strong anti-SLAPP legislation so that journalists, activists, whistleblowers, and citizens cannot be gagged or harassed in courts by the powerful.
6. Demand transparency of the Committee of Creditors.
Publish every detail—votes, minutes, expenditures, valuations, competing bids. The CoC proceedings must be made entirely public so that backroom deals stop hiding behind a veil of secrecy.
7. Fight for time-bound restitution for depositors.
Highlight the urgency of justice. Small depositors, seniors, and families who trusted DHFL must not wait decades for crumbs. Time-bound repayment is non-negotiable.
Non-Godi media, this is your moment. You are the last line. Sponsored bootlicking channels will not touch this. If you remain silent, you become complicit.
So I leave you with this:
Silence is not neutrality. Silence is betrayal to your collective mission in taking a stand against the state-corporate collusion.
And to all those who are watching this– If this message resonates with you, if you believe these stories must be told, then help amplify it. Like this video, share it, leave a comment, and most importantly—subscribe, click on the bell icon for every update. Every click, every share, every subscription gives strength to independent voices and keeps this truth alive.
Thank you for standing with justice. Thank you for refusing to look away.
Because in the end—justice is not a judgment on paper. Justice is food on the table, medicine for the elderly, and dignity for ordinary citizens.
Non-Godi media of India—shine the light. Tell the story. You’ll find the link to the consolidated document on the entire DHFL narrative—specially prepared for you as a press release—in the video description below. This is the result of over four years of research by our collective, Once in a Blue Moon Academia (OBMA).
And remember: in defending press freedom and reporting fearlessly on the DHFL scam, you are also defending the Indian Constitution and the fundamental rights it guarantees—not just freedom of speech and expression, or the right to information, but the right of ordinary citizens and DHFL victims to justice, restitution, and right to equality before the law.
I end with Bertrand Russell’s relevant quote in this regard: Be isolated, be ignored, be attacked, be in doubt, be frightened but do not be silenced.”
SEE ALSO:
Once in a Blue Moon Academia 
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