Bombay HC finds Hirco arm prima facie loan defaulter

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has asked a subsidiary of real estate firm Hirco Plc to disclose all its assets in an interim order that observed that prima facie Hiranandani Palace Gardens has defaulted on loan repayment to Tata Capital Financial Services.

Tata Capital Financial Services had filed a winding-up petition against Hiranandani Palace Gardens, which has undertaken township projects in Chennai and at Panvel near Mumbai, over alleged default of term loan worth Rs 76 crore. The lender has demanded liquidating the firm.

The court has now passed an interim order with prima facie view that the firm has defaulted on its loan repayment to Tata Capital.

Hiranandani Palace Gardens has accepted to file an undertaking in the court that the developer will not create any third-party rights in respect of mortgaged properties and it will also not further encumber other properties without the court’s permission. The matter will now be heard on December 4. Vikram Trivedi, managing partner at law firm Manilal Kher Ambalal & Co that represents Tata Capital Financial Services, confirmed the development. He, however, declined to comment, saying the matter is sub judice. According to the lender’s petition, it had sanctioned Hiranandani Palace Gardens’ applications for a Rs 100-crore term loan in July 2011. And it had disbursedRs 76 crore.

The developer defaulted on loan obligations from December 2012 and is now liable to pay Rs 82.6 crore, including an annual interest of 18.5%.

Tata Capital in its petition said Hiranandani Palace Gardens is under financial stress and is unable to meet creditor’s liabilities. It also alleged that the company has misrepresented facts while availing the term loan.