Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court imposed a ₹5 crore fine on the Heera Group after it found that the company misled the court and wasted judicial time.
Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka passed the order against the Heera Group owned by Nouheera Shaik. Therefore, the judge directed the group to deposit the fine amount into the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund within a few weeks.
Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate registered a case against the Heera Group and Nouheera Shaik under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The agency alleged that the group collected money from poor investors but failed to return it.
As part of the investigation, the Enforcement Directorate attached 59 properties linked to the company. Subsequently, following Supreme Court directions, the agency decided to auction these assets. Meanwhile, the ED uploaded auction details on the MSTC Limited website and fixed December 26 for the sale.
Heera Group’s fine imposed after court rejects auction plea
However, Nouheera Shaik approached the Telangana High Court challenging the auction process. She claimed that officials failed to conduct the auction properly and showed the property values as very low. Therefore, she sought interim orders to stop the auction.
Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka heard arguments from both sides. However, the court found that the petitioner filed misleading pleas and wasted valuable court time.
Consequently, the judge expressed strong displeasure over the conduct of the Heera Group. As a result, he imposed a ₹5 crore Heera Group fine as a penalty.
Moreover, the court made it clear that such petitions would not receive encouragement. It stated that parties must not misuse the judicial process to delay lawful action by investigating agencies.