Car sales slump for 11th month Radha Soami chief denies owing money Singh Bros sent to police custody

New Delhi, Oct. 11: Passenger vehicle wholesales in India declined for the 11th consecutive month in September as the onset of the festive season failed to lift buyer sentiment and pull the industry out of a prolonged downturn, auto industry body Siam said on Friday.

However, with buoyant demand witnessed during this year’s Navratri, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) said, “green shoots are visible now” and hoped that various steps taken by the government to boost the economy will help sustain it.

According to Siam, passenger vehicle (PV) sales during September dropped by 23.69 per cent to 2,23,317 units, down from 2,92,660 units in the year-ago period. Similarly, PV sales plummeted by 23.56 per

cent in the AprilSeptember period compared with the same period last year. In September, domestic car sales were down 33.4 per cent to 1,31,281 units last month as against 1,97,124 units in the year-ago month, Siam said.

The month saw motorcycles sales dropping to the lowest ever level in over two decades while commercial vehicle sales also declined the worst since January 2009, when the sales had declined by 67.6 per cent.

Motorcycle sales in September declined 23.29 per cent to 10,43,624 units as against 13,60,415 units a year earlier. Similarly, sales of commercial vehicles were down 39.06 per cent to 58,419 units from 95,870 units. —PTI New Delhi, Oct. 11: Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) head Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family members on Friday approached the Delhi High Court saying they do not owe any money to RHC Holdings, promoted by Malvinder and Shivinder Singh. The Dhillons filed the application following the court’s direction to deposit the amount due to RHC Holdings in connection with the execution of Rs 3,500-crore arbitral award won by Daiichi Sankyo. Dhillons told the court that RHC Holding has made false claims that they owe money to company. Justice J. R. Midha sought response of RHC Holding, Singh brothers and Daiichi on the plea of Dhillons. —PTI New Delhi, Oct. 11: The Delhi High Court on Friday reserved order on whether to issue notice to the police on former Fortis Healthcare promoter Malvinder Singh’s plea seeking quashing of an FIR against him that alleged misappropriation of Religare Finvest (RFL) funds, causing it a loss to the tune of Rs 2,397 crore.

Justice Brijesh Sethi reserved order on the plea after hearing arguments on behalf of Singh, Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police and RFL. Singh had approached the high court on Thursday, hours before his arrest.

Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Friday granted the police four-day custody of Malvinder, his brother Shivinder and three others, arrested for alleged misappropriation of funds in the case. Singh, in his plea in the high court has contended that only the SFIO, which comes under Ministry of Corporate Affairs, could have investigated the allegations of fraud and cheating against him.

Singh, represented by Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, urged the court to issue notice in the matter and also stay the proceedings initiated by the police, which was opposed by the EOW and RFL.

Singhvi argued that the SFIO already investigating the issue of diversion of funds on a complaint by Religare and therefore, EOW “could not have jumped the gun”. — PTI