UAE court imposes travel ban on Kerala leader’s son
dubai — The son of a prominent ruling party leader in the south Indian state of Kerala will not be allowed to leave Dubai till he coughs up Dh1 million he owes to a businessman.
According to a copy of a travel ban issued by a Dubai court on February 1, Benoy Vinodini Kodiyeri, son of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, chief of Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kerala, will either have to settle the amount or submit a bank guarantee for the same. The court also ordered him to deposit his passport at its treasury.
Benoy Kodiyeri, who is in Dubai, told Khaleej Times he was planning to file a grievance petition with the Dubai Courts. “I have full faith in the system. Even when they filed the criminal case, I made sure that the issue would be fought legally. That’s why I had to pay Dh60,000 fine in the criminal case.”
dubai — A Dubai court has slapped a travel ban on the son of a prominent ruling party leader in Kerala over a dud cheque case, according to sources.
Benoy Vinodini Kodiyeri, son of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, chief of Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kerala, was ordered not to leave Dubai till he settles Dh1 million case as demanded by a Dubai-based petitioner, Al Jaas Tourism LLC. The Dubai court has also ordered to deposit his passport at its treasury.
According to a copy of the travel ban order acquired by Khaleej Times, the ban, issued on February 1, will be applicable till he deposits Dh1 million or submit a bank guarantee for the same.
Bineesh Kodiyeri, brother of Benoy who confirmed the travel ban to Khaleej Times over the phone from Kerala, said Benoy could stay back in Dubai and settle the issues.
Bineesh added his brother will file an appeal against the travel ban order within a week, with sufficient proofs.
“Binoy never said that he doesn’t owe money to Al Jaas Tourism. But the problem is he doesn’t have enough money to repay it after a business debacle.
“He has already admitted that he owes Dh1 million to Al Jaas. But the media and the complainant alleged he owed over Dh7.5 million, which is now proved wrong. The travel ban says the money is Dh1 million, as admitted by Benoy earlier.”
He ridiculed media reports that there were attempts to resolve the case after paying money. “If he had that money with him, things wouldn’t have gone to this level,” said Bineesh.
What led to the row
Last week, media reports said Benoy had a case against him in Dubai for not paying pack Dh7 million he had borrowed from the owner of Al Jaas Tourism LLC. Later, on January 25, Benoy produced a clearance certificate from the Dubai Police to prove that there was no criminal case in Dubai against him. Then he flew to Dubai to address the issue.
According to the written complaint lodged by Jaas’s Emirati owner Hasan Ismaeel Abdulla Almazrooqi earlier, Binoy used his friendship with Rahul Krishnan, a partner at Jaas, to borrow the cash.
“Benoy Balakrishnan, by means of utilising his liberty in my company through Mr Rahul Krishnan, borrowed money from our account holding banks for a mortgage loan of Dh313,200 for buying a new Audi, and agreed to pay all EMIs on time,” the complaint read.
Benoy further borrowed Dh4.5 million for various business deals across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, India and Nepal, and did not pay back the money as promised before June 2016, claimed Almazrooqi.
Almazrooqi, who was supposed to attend a Press meet in Kerala capital on the matter, didn’t turn up on Monday at the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club, where his advocate Ram Kishore Yadav had booked a hall.
“It’s because there is an order from a Kerala court in relation with another fraud case, which stayed Almazrooqi from making any public statement against another political leader’s son. As both the cases are interrelated, it’s not advisable for my client to address the media,” Yadav told Khaleej Times over the phone from New Delhi. However, Press club officials told Khaleej Times that they were not informed about the cancellation of the Press meet and the organisers didn’t turn up.
Despite several attempts, Almazrooqi, who is in Kerala, could not be reached for a comment.