The Supreme Court extended the interim order of stay on the criminal proceedings against WIPRO's former chairman Azim Premji, his wife and others on a complaint over allegations of illegally transferring assets worth Rs 45,000 crore from three companies into a private trust and newly established company.
The court of justices S.K. Kaul and M.M. Sundresh rejected their plea seeking to negate the summons issued by a Bengaluru court on a "frivolous" and "mischievous" complaint filed by an NGO Indian Awake for Transparency (IAT) claiming the infringement of trust and corruption in merger of three companies with a Premji group firm.
“We see no reason why the contemnors should not file a reply to the contempt notice, without prejudice to their claims made in the application seeking recall of the order and such a reply be filed by October 18, 2021 before the High Court and be brought on record and it will be thereafter for the High Court to proceed in the manner deemed appropriate qua the contempt notice as well as the application for recall,” the court said.
In their appeals, Premji and others have said that the complainant NGO had suppressed material facts and documents including that the scheme of amalgamation had already been sanctioned by the Karnataka high court by order dated March 26, 2015.
The plaintiff IAT purported that Azim Premji, Yasmeen Azim Premji and Pagalthivarthi Srinivasan were allocated with the dominion over the properties and assets of three companies Vidya Investment and Trading Company Private Limited, Regal Investment and Trading Company Private Limited and Napean Investment and Trading Company Private Limited as directors.
