The SC has asked ED to hand over Bhushan Power & Steel properties worth Rs 4,025 crore to JSW Steel.

The Supreme Court on December 13 directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to hand over properties of debt-laden Bhushan Power & Steel worth Rs 4,025 crore which were provisionally attached in 2019 in connection with a money laundering probe linked to an alleged bank loan. Fraud by previous management.

A bench headed by Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice SC Sharma directed the release of properties of the corporate debtor, Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd, which had been temporarily annexed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The properties are now set to be handed over to JSW Steel Ltd (JSW), the successful applicant in the insolvency proceedings of Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd (BPSL).

The Enforcement Directorate had temporarily attached the assets in 2019 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) because the previous department was under investigation for alleged bank loan fraud.

The ED has returned assets worth Rs 4,025 crore to erstwhile JSW Steel’s Bhushan Steel and Power Limited after Supreme Court approval, the agency said on December 14. It said the recovery of assets was made under Section 8(8) of the PMLA (Recovery Pending Trial), read with Rule 3A of the PMLA Property Recovery Rules.

In its order, the Supreme Court, relying on an affidavit filed by the Executive Director, observed that Section 8(8) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, is read with Rule 3A of the Prevention of Money Laundering (Recovery of Property) Rules. , 2016, allowed JSW to take control of the debtor company’s properties that had been temporarily seized by the CEO. The CEO also asserted that, given the special circumstances of the current case, JSW should be allowed to take control of the associated properties.

Under the management and control of JSW Steel Ltd., BPSL has undergone a major transformation. As of now, BPSL provides direct and indirect employment to more than 20,000 individuals. Within a short period of three years since implementing the resolution plan, BPSL has doubled its steel manufacturing and production capacity, operating with only one-tenth of the liabilities it faced when insolvency proceedings were initiated.

JSW Steel Ltd was represented before the Supreme Court by senior advocates Neeraj Kishan Kaul and Gopal Jain, along with a legal team from Karanjwala & Co., led by Nandini Gaur (Senior Partner), Tahira Karanjwala (Partner), Swati Bharadwaj, Akarsh Sharma, Manvi Rastogi and Charanya. Gosh.