The Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has made a move to attach two properties of debt-ridden media house Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd. The bank, which has an exposure of around R75 crore, had already issued a notice under Sarfaesi Act to redeem part of its lending to the company.
A senior bank official said: ?The bank had already issued a notice and approached the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Andhra Pradesh for seeking police protection to take possession of the assets?.
IOB had served a repossession notice in connection with a piece of land measuring 37,000 sq ft on Sarojini Devi Road in Secunderabad as well as buildings on it and a 5,400 sq ft commercial building in the Sewa Corporate Park at Khasra in Gurgaon. The two properties have been pledged as collateral against a Rs 70-crore loan availed by DCHL in August 2012.
Recently, Andhra Bank had taken possession of two properties of DCHL worth over Rs 160 crore. Besides, the Andhra Pradesh HC had allowed Kotak Mahindra Bank to sell the printing press premises of DCHL if the company failed to repay a loan of about R100 crore. Canara Bank was also in the legal process for recovery of R350 crore in DCHL dues case.
The ministry of corporate affairs had appointed a team that has been closely monitoring the current crisis in the company and also the alleged violations of company laws by the DCHL management. The team was directed to inspect all records pertaining to DCHL. The CBI had also booked a case of alleged fraud against the management. The Debt Recovery Tribunal recently stayed the auction of trademarks and titles of Deccan Chronicle, Financial Chronicle, Asian Age and Andhra Bhoomi dailies, belonging to DCHL.
