The Madras High Court has taken cognizance and issued notices in a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Chennai Financial Markets Accountability (CFMA) against SEBI and Franklin Templeton Asset Management India Pvt. Ltd (FTAMC) over the abrupt winding up of six debt funds by the latter.

A press release from CFMA said the court had issued an order on May 26, taking into cognizance the seriousness of the matter, wherein the money of the common public, amounting to around ₹28,000 crore, is at risk of getting wiped off. It has asked SEBI to file its reply, along with a status report on the actions taken.

FTAMC, in its own admission, has stated that the recovery of monies across the six schemes shall be in the range of 5 per cent to 81 per cent over five years. Given the fact that the six schemes had ₹28,000 crore worth assets under management, the average loss to the unit holders, taking 20 per cent as the average realisation, would be around ₹22,400 crore. “This is the size of hole in the pocket of the common man where the principal amount is wiped off,” the CFMA release said.

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