Gensol Engineering challenges SEBI ban in SAT, hearing today

Gensol Engineering Limited has approached Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) against April 15 interim order of SEBI. The company had filed the appeal on Friday, which will come up for hearing today. As per sources, the appeal has been filed on behalf of company praying for removal of restrictions by SEBI.

In its interim order, SEBI had barred the company's promoters Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi from accessing securities market until further orders. Jaggi brothers were also restrained from holding the position of a director or a Key Managerial Personnel in Gensol until further orders. SEBI has alleged misutilisation of loans availed by Gensol Engineering Ltd (GEL) from PSU NBFCs,  IREDA and PFC and diversion of these funds for personal expenses of promoters. These expenses include buying a high-end apartment in Gurgaon, purchasing luxury golf set and transferring the funds to relatives, amounting to serious lapses in corporate governance.

According to SEBI interim order, Gensol Engineering secured a total of Rs 977.75-crore loans from IREDA and PFC for buying electrical vehicles. Of the said loan amount, Rs 663.89 Cr was meant for the purchase of 6,400 EVs. But the company purchased only 4704 EVs and leased to related company BluSmart. SEBI also confirmed the same from the EV supplier Go-Auto Private limited, Gensol had paid a total amount of Rs Rs 567.73 crore to the supplier. The SEBI order noted that Gensol was also to provide additional equity (margin) contribution of 20%, bringing the total expected deployment of approximately Rs 829.86 crore for the purchase of 6,400 electric vehicles. Based on these figures, an amount of Rs. 262.13 crore remains unaccounted.

SEBI's whole-time member Ashwani Bhatia noted in interim order, “The Company’s funds were routed to related parties and used for unconnected expenses, as if the Company’s funds were promoters’ piggybank”.