Top court stays Bombay HC’s order allowing HDIL asset sale

NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a Bombay high court order on the sale of assets owned by bankrupt Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) for repaying its dues to Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC).

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court against the Bombay high court order.

According to the Reserve bank, the sale of Housing Development and Infrastructure’s assets will dent the central bank’s attempts to revive Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank, which has been hit by a ₹6,500crore scam.

Last month, the Bombay high court had ordered liquidating the assets of the infrastructure company to settle the dues of depositors of PMC Bank.

The high court had also appointed a three-member committee to assess the value of the encumbered assets and sell them for the speedy recovery of dues payable by the firm to the crisishit bank.

The high court had allowed the sale of HDIL’s assets after a public interest litigation, or PIL, was filed seeking the formation of a committee with a retired judge as its head to dispose of the company’s assets.