Shree Ganesh Jewellers' co-owner files petition in HC denying holding any position in the firm

The State Bank of India, the leading lender to Shree Ganesh Jewellers, now has to contend with a fresh twist in its criminal case against the embattled Kolkata company that is accused of defaulting on Rs 2,600 crore worth of loans taken from several domestic banks.

Dubai-based Kamlesh Parekh, one of the three brothers who owned the company, has filed a petition in the Calcutta High Court seeking the quashing of the criminal complaint of fraud filed by SBI and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against him. Kamlesh, the youngest of the three founders, said that he had parted from the other brothers due to a family dispute and is disassociated from the defaulting jeweller.

"My client is not holding any position in the company owned by the three brothers," said Zulfiquar Memon of MZM Legal, which is representing Kamlesh Parekh. "We have so ught this quashing petition because this criminal complaint is hurting his business activities. Kamlesh Parekh has only ownership of shares through ancestry, but was never involved in any company activities."

The quashing petition will be heard by the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday.

In its FIR filed in July 2016, SBI accused the company promoters executives of siphoning off funds: "The accused persons committed an elaborate bank fraud causing wrongful loss of Rs 2,619.04 crore to 25 banks."