Delhi High Court has issued a contempt notice to BluSmart, Gensol, and others for allegedly disobeying its order on 10 Tata Tigor EVs. Shefasteq claims the firms hid vehicle details and obstructed court orders.
New Delhi: Today, On May 28, Wednesday, the Delhi High Court issued a notice in a contempt petition filed by Shefasteq (OPC) against electric vehicle (EV) companies BluSmart, Gensol, Go Auto, and others.
The petition accuses them of not following a court order passed earlier on May 7, which had clearly restrained them from transferring or dealing with 10 Tata Tigor electric vehicles.
Justice Jyoti Singh of the Delhi High Court had passed the May 7 order during a case filed under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act.
In that order, the Court had appointed an advocate as a court receiver with instructions to locate and preserve 10 Tata Tigor EVs.
The Court also ordered the respondents to help the receiver by providing information about the location of the vehicles within two days.
However, Shefasteq has now come forward with a contempt plea, claiming that the companies have ignored and violated this court order.
In its petition, Shefasteq alleged that the respondents not only failed to cooperate with the court-appointed receiver but also obstructed the entire process.
It said:
“The respondents did not provide the receiver with any vehicle details or access to premises where the vehicles were supposed to be housed.”
According to the plea, even though Go Auto was the original seller of the vehicles and had received full payment, it still refused to share the registration or chassis numbers of the vehicles.
Shefasteq stated:
“Go Auto, despite being the seller and having received full payment, refused to disclose registration or chassis numbers of the 10 vehicles.”
The court receiver tried to locate the vehicles but faced many difficulties. The inspection reports show that BluSmart’s offices were found empty, Go Auto’s service centers were locked, and no information about the electric vehicles could be obtained.
Shefasteq said:
“The receiver’s inspection reports show that BluSmart’s offices were vacated, Go Auto’s service centres were locked and no trace of the EVs could be found.”
According to Shefasteq, the actions of the respondents show they deliberately chose not to follow the Court’s directions.
The plea emphasized that repeated attempts were made to gather information about the vehicles, including through legal notices and emails, but none of them were answered.
Shefasteq remarked:
“The conduct of the respondents amounted to deliberate non-compliance, with the intent to obstruct the administration of justice.”
The plea also highlighted:
“Repeated requests for vehicle information, including through legal notices and email, went unanswered.”
In view of these events, Shefasteq requested the Delhi High Court to start contempt proceedings against the companies and ask them to reveal where the electric vehicles are. Alternatively, Shefasteq urged the Court to direct the respondents to deposit Rs 1.24 crore, which is the total value of the 10 Tata Tigor EVs.
Meanwhile, on May 23, the Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in Delhi passed an order against Gensol Engineering and Gensol EV Lease.
The tribunal instructed them to maintain status quo on their secured assets and vehicles. This order came after recovery actions were started by Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) and Power Finance Corporation (PFC) for a total outstanding amount of about Rs 992 crore.
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In another legal proceeding, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Ahmedabad, on May 16, issued notice in an insolvency case filed by IREDA against Gensol Engineering for defaulting on a loan of more than Rs 510 crore.
Gensol’s legal troubles started with an interim order by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on April 15. SEBI’s order stated that Gensol had misused hundreds of crores of public and borrowed funds by diverting them through related parties.
The company was also accused of spending this money on luxurious, unrelated purchases like high-end apartments.
Moreover, SEBI found that Gensol submitted fake “No Objection Certificates” and forged conduct letters to credit rating agencies. SEBI also revealed that Gensol misled investors by making inflated claims about electric vehicle procurements, while actual production at the plant was nearly zero.
SEBI’s findings said:
“Gensol diverted hundreds of crores of rupees through related parties, used public and borrowed funds for unrelated luxury purchases – including a high-end apartment – and submitted forged ‘No Objection Certificates’ and conduct letters to credit rating agencies.”
It also noted:
“The company misled investors with inflated EV procurement claims, while actual plant activity was negligible.”
Based on these serious accusations, SEBI barred Gensol and its promoters, Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi, from taking part in the securities market and also stopped them from acting as directors or in any managerial roles. The market regulator took this step to protect investor interest.
Later, on May 7, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) refused to stay SEBI’s interim order. Instead, it asked Gensol to respond to SEBI’s findings. SAT also told SEBI to pass a final order within four weeks of receiving Gensol’s reply.
The Tribunal stated:
“SAT directed Gensol to file its reply to the interim order passed by SEBI and further directed the markets regulator to pass a final order within four weeks of hearing Gensol.”
In the meantime, multiple lessors who had leased electric vehicles to BluSmart, a subsidiary of Gensol, have been approaching the Delhi High Court several times to protect their interests in the leased EVs.
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These companies are now also caught in the complex web of legal cases involving Gensol and its related entities.
Shefasteq in this matter was represented by a legal team comprising Advocates Saurabh Seth, Surendra Dube, Sonia Dube, Neelampreet, Abhiroop Rathore, Kanchan Yadav, and Tanishq Sharma.
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