Court asks Delhi Police to lodge FIR against Videocon CMD Venu Gopal Dhoot

NEW DELHI: A court here has directed Delhi Police to lodge an FIR against Videocon Chairman and Managing Director Venu Gopal Dhoot for allegedly cheating a private company by breaching a 1995 share agreement between them.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sonu Agnihotri asked the SHO of Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) to lodge FIR against Dhoot for the offence of cheating under section 420 of the IPC for illegally selling 30 lakh shares of private firm Tirupati Ceramics Ltd, which is the complainant, to a third party.

The court went through the contention of the complainant firm that Videocon CMD had allegedly breached the sale contract by selling 30 lakh shares, for which it took Rs 90 lakh from it, to another company without informing it.

"Prima facie intention of accused (Dhoot) to receive money from complainants appears to be dishonest and to cause wrongful loss to the complainants and to gain wrongfully himself..." the court said.

"I allow the prayer of complainants and direct SHO, EOW to lodge FIR against accused under section 420 of IPC," it said.

The complaint filed by the firm's promotor Ram Raj Bhandari had claimed that the firm had sold 30 lakh shares to Videocon Leasing and Industrial Finance Ltd in 1995 under an agreement that if it is unable to invite public to buy shares or list them on stock exchange, it would be at liberty to sell shares but give a preferential offer to promoters of Tirupati.

Since 1995, Videocon did not sell the 30 lakh shares nor put them up on stock exchange, the private firm in 2013 offered to buy back the shares from it and paid Rs 90 lakh, it said, adding that the CMD, however, informed them through an email that the shares were sold to a third party long time ago for which they received Rs 60 lakh as security deposit.

It was alleged that an MoU was forged and fabricated in 2011 and Videocon entered into a criminal conspiracy with the third party to cheat the complainants.