Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 28: Hilal Rather, one of the five partners of M/s Paradize Avenue, has disputed several claims made by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in the official handout released yesterday.
Contradicting the ACB claim that loan has been fraudulently obtained from the Jammu and Kashmir Bank even without having title of the land in possession, Hilal Rather, in a statement, said, “no bank releases a single penny to any borrower without securing adequate security in place. The land was registered in the month of July 2012 and funds were released only in September 2012 after creating all securities and pledges”, adding “it has been assumed that the value of land has been artificially inflated in the sale deeds which is again not true as the land has been registered at the existing circle rates of the time”.
Further disputing the ACB claim about illegal waiver of Rs 50 crore given to the firm through One Time Settlement (OTS), he said, “the accusation falls flat on its face simply on the fact that the bank itself through its letter dated 20-10-2018 refused to accept any OTS citing that there was no such provision with the bank”. How can an OTS, terminated even before implementation be considered any benefit at all? he asked.
Stating that the whole issue of the Loan Amount of Rs.177.60 crores has to be understood in the right perspective, he said, “the principal component of the loan primarily for construction of the project was only around Rs 128 crores, rest being interest component. The principal component has been utilized towards construction of 342 flats on the project site”, adding “structural work in the remaining two towers which is the bulk of the project have almost been completed. Anyone with some idea of construction costs in Prefabricated Steel Structures can vouch that more money has been spent on the project than has been drawn”.
Hilal Rather, however, admitted that he has a minority interest in a company in Dubai which is a connection distribution agent of DU Telecom, which does not require any major capital investment. He said, “51% of the company is owned by a citizen of UAE and there are total four partners and his proportionate interest in the firm is less than 20%. It takes 30000 UAE Dirhams to register a new business and around 7000 Dirhams for residency. Therefore, the total financial interest is not more than 14500 Dirhams roughly Rs 2.90 lakh in the entire venture”.
“Further no business can exist without a bank account therefore a bank account does exist. As per my knowledge, Reserve Bank of India does not prohibit Indian citizens from investing in business abroad within the certain limit and no prior permission is required”, he further said.
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