The Great Anachronism: Putting the Cart Before The Horse—The DHFL “Scam” 

The Great Anachronism: Putting the Cart Before the Horse—The DHFL “Scam”

Posted on 10th March, 2025 (GMT 08:21 hrs)

ABSTRACT

The article critiques the handling of the DHFL case, arguing that legal actions preceded proper investigations and production of evidence, leading to unjust outcomes for the DHFL victims. In 2019, the Wadhawan brothers were penalized without trial and justification, and payouts to FD and NCD holders were halted as DHFL was placed under the flawed IBC framework. Despite irregularities flagged by the NCLT and NCLAT in 2021-22, the Supreme Court’s stay order allowed Mr. Piramal to acquire DHFL, which was later merged into PCHFL and consequently into the Piramal Enterprises. In January 2025, the CBI closed the case, clearing the Wadhawans of all allegations of “criminal conspiracy”. The article argues that state-corporate interests dictated the process, subverting justice and likening it to “putting the cart before the horse.”

Anarchy of (Ana)chronology Samjhiye!

Though the Sangh Parivar does not know anything about the political philosophies of anarchism!

2019: The Grand Beginning

• Event: Serious allegations of financial fraud surface against the Wadhawan brothers. They were imprisoned consequently in 2021 in relation to the YES Bank case, not the DHFL case.
• What should have happened: Investigative agencies should have gathered solid proof before taking irreversible action.
• What actually happened:
  • The Wadhawans were penalized without a trial, denying them the opportunity to present their case to the RBI-appointed CoC, despite their multiple attempts.
  • FD and NCD holders’ payouts were abruptly halted by the Bombay High Court in Sept-Oct’19, the (il)logic of which was carried forward by the RBI-appointed CoC.
  • The DHFL case was shoved into the flawed IBC (2016) framework—common citizens unwittingly turned into lab-state guinea pigs for a legal experiment for enabling the BJP to maintain its “image”.

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2025: The Moment of (Un)Surprise

• Huge Plot twist! The CBI grants the Wadhawans a clean chit in Jan’25 through their “closure report” on the DHFL Loan Scam Case. No legal conflicts remain on their part. So, what was the need for doing the drama of putting DHFL under the CIRP? Why did lakhs of citizens have had to brace massive haircuts on their hard-earned money? What was the reason(s)?
• Meanwhile, in the land of justice and fair play…
• The RBI-appointed CoC and Mr. Piramal decided FD holders deserved only 23.07% of their money.
• Multiple irregularities, illegalities and instances of wilful disregard in the resolution process headed by the CoC were flagged—first by the NCLT (19.05.2021), then by the NCLAT (27.01.2022).
• But Mr. Piramal, wielding the might of the apex court’s stay order (11.04.2022), conveniently brushed aside these concerns– did he really, though?
• DHFL, once a financial entity, was merged, absorbed, and ultimately dissolved into absence—first into PCHFL, then into Piramal Enterprises. For what? To absolve Mr. Piramal of all responsibility and agency? Shrewd!
• https://onceinabluemoon2021.in/2024/12/09/piramal-the-king-of-demergers-cat-marjara-is-out-of-the-bag/

• The Grand Absurdity: A Five-Years+ “Joy”ride

  From 2019 to 2025, the Great Leap of Bajrangbali unfolded:

  • Justice took a backseat. The apex judiciary, in its “excessive” wisdom, seemed to sit still while there was allegedly a corporate coup by Mr. Piramal to buy 45k crore assets of DHFL for only a rupee. The lowest quasi-judiciary, NCLT, gave an approval to Mr. Piramal’s allegedly financially abusive resolution plan on 07.06.2021, which led Mr. Piramal to claim full ownership (adverse possession??) of the said NBFC without addressing the challenges he still faces in the higher ranks of the judiciary. What would be the conditions for “error in jurisdiction and excessive jurisdiction”, here, in this context?
  • The crony state flexed its muscles. The RBI, backed by a complicit corporate-backed government, upended due process. Here, the ana-chronism thus appears to become a grand ana-cronyism!
  • The rich got richer. A corporate titan, Mr. Piramal, seemingly walked away with DHFL, while small investors were left scraping for crumbs.

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  Conclusion: The Spectacle of ‘Nautanki‘

  The DHFL “scam” (?) IS a spectacular farce involving the dramaturgical facework of the crony government in power, the RBI, the DHFL-CoC and Mr. Piramal, where:

  • The verdict preceded the investigation and the production of conclusive proof/evidence.
  • The punishment of the DHFL victims, the helpless financially abused, preceded the submission of conclusive/definite proof/evidence.
  • The takeover preceded the resolution.
    A textbook case of putting the cart before the horse—where logic, fairness, and accountability were trampled under the weight of corporate greed and crony state complicity- a chaosophical state of affairs.

  These are only possible in an autocratic setup!

• https://youtu.be/Y9253_M38Xk

• https://youtu.be/tBPBfBdp

• DHFL is now an Absence That Exists⤡.

• For the (non-ana-)chronological view, view the following:

• https://onceinabluemoon2021.in/2022/10/15/the-chronology-of-the-dhfl-scam/

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