The Delhi High Court has issued a stay on criminal proceedings against Hero MotoCorp Ltd and its chairman Pawan Munjal, along with three others, in an alleged case of “forgery, cheating and falsifying the books of accounts” between 2009 and 2010.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma has ordered the stay to remain in effect until the next hearing on December 6. The court has also suggested that both parties explore the possibility of a compromise.
Representing Hero MotoCorp, senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi informed the court that there is an ongoing civil dispute between the company and Roop Darshan Pandey, the complainant, which is currently being resolved through arbitration. Rohatgi stressed that there are no criminal elements involved in the matter.
Pandey, the promoter of Brains Logistics, lodged a complaint on October 5 after a trial court ruling against Hero MotoCorp and its officials, including Munjal. The logistics company had provided services to Hero MotoCorp until March 2009, when the contract was not renewed.
In their plea to quash the proceedings, Hero MotoCorp argued that the logistics company had deliberately misinterpreted the documents submitted by the company in front of the arbitrator, former Supreme Court judge H.S. Bedi. The company stated that the documents presented by the logistics firm were not the monthly bills, but rather summaries of the bills.
The petition also highlighted that Hero Honda Motors changed its name to Hero MotoCorp in 2011. Therefore, the documents from 2009 and 2010, which were certified by the company under its previous name, should not be considered fake or false. Hero MotoCorp accused the complainant of intentionally concealing these facts in order to mislead the court into registering an FIR.
The petition further pointed out that similar complaints were filed by Pandey with the income tax authority and the Registrar of Companies, but no action was taken against Hero MotoCorp.
According to the FIR, Hero MotoCorp and its officials allegedly created fake bills amounting to over Rs 5.94 crore between 2009 and 2010, with these bills being signed and stamped by the company.
The complainant also accused the accused parties of deceiving the income tax department by obtaining a false CENVAT credit of Rs 55.15 crore by manipulating the books of accounts. However, the complainant clarified that no bills were issued to Hero MotoCorp during the period in question.
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