DC Holdings chairman’s properties attached

Hyderabad: On a day of high drama and swift developments, debt-ridden Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd on Thursday held its much-delayed annual general meeting (AGM) without two of its main promoters. The meeting was held even as the Debt Recovery Tribunal in Hyderabad attached the personal properties of DCHL chairman T Venkatram Reddy and  his brother and vice -chairman T Vinayak Ravi Reddy on a petition filed by Axis Bank for the recovery of Rs 427 crore.      This was amid the buzz that a Chandigarh police team had landed in Hyderabad to arrest the company's promoters and some ex-directors in a cheque bounce case filed by Religare Finvest, one of DCHL lenders.      The AGM was, in a major departure from the past, held amid tight security at DCHL's printing press at Kondapur in Cyberabad. DCHL admits to losses of 1,040cr  Hyderabad: Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd chairman T Venkatram Reddy and his brother and vice-chairman T Vinayak Ravi Reddy did not attend Thursday's AGM, citing the sudden ill health of their mother. That left DCHL vicechairman and promoter P K Iyer to face the wrath of agitated shareholders.      Shareholders, who attended the AGM, said the hastily conducted meet lasted barely 30 minutes and was wrapped up without even the chairman's speech being read out. They also pointed out that the security was so tight that the identity of each shareholder was verified before he/she was let in. "When the meeting began, Iyer announced that the other two promoters were on their way to the AGM when they got the news of their mother's ill health and had to rush back home. He too ran through all the resolutions quickly and left in a hurry," said shareholder Shantilal Shah, who made it on time only because he had done a recce of the venue three days ago. To allay fears of anxious investors, Iyer said the company was bringing out its paper and paying salaries to its staff, Shah added.      Another worried shareholder, Ramesh Manguluri, said Iyer had evaded all their questions. "When I asked the management its plan to repay the Rs 828 crore interest on debt by March 31, 2013, I did not get any answer," Manguluri said, pointing out that he also sought the financial details of Deccan Chargers but failed to get a reply.      Meanwhile, in its 2011-12 annual report, DCHL admitted its reserves and surpluses for the extended fiscal ended September 30, 2012, had eroded to negative (-Rs 31.78 crore) as against Rs 1,231 crore in the previous fiscal due to restructuring of operations and reinstatement of assets and liabilities. Its cash and bank balances stood at Rs 15.87 crore as of September 2012 as against Rs 703.79 crore in the previous fiscal while current liabilities and provisions as of September 2012 stood at Rs 4,042 crore as against Rs 559.67 crore the previous year.      The company also admitted that it had witnessed a mismatch between revenues and costs in other southern states (apart from AP), pushing it into losses of Rs 1,040.40 crore for fiscal ended September 2012 as against a profit of Rs 162.58 crore in fiscal 2010-11.      In its outlook, the company said it had set in motion a process of consultation with its creditors and had been maintaining cordial relationship with its lenders and workforce and that to mitigate the financial crisis and funds flow issue, the management had decided to demerge the print division of the company and reorganize its debt, subject to various approvals.      Meanwhile, buzz about a Chandigarh police team being in town to arrest the DCHL top brass kept mediapersons on their toes all day, but could not be confirmed. However, Sachindra Nath, Group CEO, Religare Enterprise, confirmed that its arm Religare Finvest had filed a cheque bounce complaint in a Chandigarh court and as the DCHL promoters and directors had failed to appear in the matter, the court had issued non-bailable warrants against them last week.      According to sources familiar with the matter, DCHL had issued four cheques worth Rs 6 crore dated July 1, 2012 and August 1, 2012, in favour of Religare Finvest, but after the cheques bounced the company had filed an FIR and criminal case under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.      Following this, a Chandigarh court had issued summons to DCHL directors, including the three promoters — T Venkattram Reddy, T Vinayaka Ravi Reddy and PK Iyer — as well as M Sukumar Reddy, G Kumar, Karthik Iyer Parasuraman, Venkaparamani Suresh and Pendyal Siddhartha.      Meanwhile, DRT Hyderabad's presiding officer K Sai Mohan attached various properties of the DCHL chairman at Road No 12, Banjara Hills, as well as properties of DCHL vice-chairman Vinayak Ravi Reddy at Road No 37, Jubilee Hills. Apart from this, DCHL's 7-acre land at Kollur near Patancheru in Medak district and a house and plot on Road No 14, Banjara Hills, was also attached by DRT.