Jalandhar, April 4 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Jalandhar, has seized immovable assets worth Rs 22.02 crore belonging to Rana Sugars Ltd, citing violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
The action comes under Section 37A of FEMA after the company was found to have held foreign exchange outside India—specifically, GDR proceeds worth USD 2.56 million—without bringing them back to the country, in violation of Section 4 of the Act.
Rana Inder Partap Singh, Independent MLA from Sultanpur Lodhi and son of senior Congress leader and Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh, serves as the company’s Managing Director.
“The company raised funds through Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) but failed to repatriate the entire proceeds to India,” an ED official stated. “The funds were not used for their stated, bona fide purpose.”
According to the agency, the probe began in December 2017 following a reference from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which informed the ED that the GDR issuance was not disclosed to the regulatory body. SEBI had imposed a penalty of Rs 63 crore on the company for allegedly diverting funds to proxy entities.
Inder Partap was summoned in January 2018 and questioned for over six hours by ED officials.
Separately, the Income Tax department conducted five-day-long raids across 35 premises linked to the Rana family just two months ago.
The ED has named company promoters, directors, and associated entities in its ongoing investigation into financial irregularities and fund diversion.
