A case has been registered against Prakash Chhabria of Finolex Industries by the Maharashtra Home department, three months after it began probing a complaint by Chhabria’s cousin Deepak Chhabria.
The department, which had begun the investigation to find out if an FIR was registered after Deepak’s complaint, has now also recommended a departmental probe against the Pimpri-Chinchwad police commissioner for the FIR not being registered last year, The Indian Express reported.
A family spokesperson for Prakash Chhabria said the Pune Police has registered the FIR based on Deepak’s complaint in connection with a family dispute ongoing since 2016, adding: “This FIR has been registered… with malicious intent and the objective of harassment. Being a responsible citizen of this country, they have complete faith in the legal system. We are in the process of defending his rights and taking appropriate steps to deal with this false, baseless and unjust prosecution.”
Pimpri Chinchwad police commissioner Krishna Prakash, who took over September 2020, told the paper the initial complaint happened before he took charge and he only signed to close the case based on decision of the Investigating Officer – which was also approved by the ACP, DCP and additional CP.
An official for the Maharashtra Home Department confirmed the inquiry but refused to answer queries, the report said.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.
Case background
Deepak alleged that the transfer of shares in Finolex Group belonging to late founder Pralhad Chhabria to Prakash Chhabria in 2016 was conducted using forged gift deed and related documents.
The inquiry report showed that Pralhad held 82.07 percent shares in Orbit Electricals, which is the holding company of Finolex Cables and Finolex Industries. These shares were to be transferred as per his will dated October 15, 2014 – 20 percent to daughter Aruna, 34 percent to son Prakash, and the rest to Kishandas’ sons Deepak (29 percent) and Vijay (17 percent). Pralhad Chhabria died in May 2016.
However, a gift deed was prepared on March 28, 2016 transferring 70.4 percent shares to Prakash – which was also resolved in a board meeting three days later. Deepak alleges the forged documents led to “disproportionate” allocation of shares to Prakash and deprived him control of Finolex Cables.
He finally approached the Pimpri-Chinchwad police on March 3, 2020 complaining of “cheating and forgery” after unsuccessfully doing the rounds of the Pune, Mumbai and Delhi civil courts. The police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) however closed the case on October 10 citing insufficient grounds for an FIR.
Post this, in October 2020, the Maharashtra Home Department sent a letter directing the Home Guards to conduct inquiry into the matter – this is pending litigation in the Bombay High Court after Finolex Industries challenged involvement of the Home Guards.
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