Dnyanradha case: notice to be issued to Centre, State Govts & ED

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A petition was filed in the court against Dnyanradha Multi-State Cooperative Credit Society for cheating lakhs of depositors. The Credit Cociety attracted lakhs of investors from across the country and cheated them for crores of rupees. The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court, comprising Justice Manish Pitale and Justice Y G Khobragade, ordered to issue notices to the Centre, State Governments, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and others. The next hearing will be held after 3 weeks.

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What is case?

According to details, 11 persons filed a petition in this case through adv Yuvraj Barahate and adv Ranjita Barahate (Deshmukh). As per the petition, Dnyanradha Credit Society attracted about 6 lakh people from across the country to invest and take 13 per cent to 18 per cent interest on the investment. So far, a scam worth about Rs 3,500 crore has been exposed. Many depositors' money is stuck. The First Information Report (FIR) were registered in Majalgaon and Beed in May 2024 and in Jintur in August 2024 in this case.

The ED seized assets worth about Rs 1,433.48 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The District Collector of Parbhani ordered the seizure of the society's assets under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act. The Central Registrar (cooperative societies) appointed the District Deputy Registrar of Beed as the liquidator of the Dnyanradha Credit Society.

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Petitioners' request

The petitioners requested the court to verify the claims of the depositors, immediately distribute the money received from the sale of the movable and immovable properties of the society to the depositors and to direct the liquidators to not divert the funds to other creditors until the claims of the depositors are settled.

They also urged the court to issue directives to transfer all the properties seized under the ED and MPID Acts to the liquidators so that they can be disposed of under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 and the money can be returned to the depositors. “Since the scam has spread in many States, the investigation should be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Orders should be issued to return money to the depositors within three months,” the petitioners stated in the petition.