Interim Order in the matter Karmbhoomi Real Estate Limited

ORDER Under Sections 11(1), 11(4) and 11B of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 read with Regulation 65 of the SEBI (Collective Investment Schemes) Regulations, 1999 in the matter of Karmbhoomi Real Estate Limited (CIN: U70102UP2010PLC040423) and its Directors viz., Mr. Devendra Pal Singh (DIN : 01832091), Mr. Sardar Singh (DIN : 02477583), Mr. Nirmal Kumar Singh (DIN: 03031024), Mr. Manoj Kumar Sengar (DIN: 03031042) and Mr. Mahipal Singh (DIN: 05308568).

1. Securities and Exchange Board of India (hereinafter referred to as "SEBI") received a complaint vide email dated November 26, 2013 alleging that companies including Karmbhoomi Real Estate Limited (hereinafter referred to as "Karmbhoomi") launched various collective investment schemes without obtaining certificate of registration from SEBI or RBI. The complainant also enclosed a Registration letter (S.N 079359) issued by Karambhoomi to an investor.

2. As a matter of preliminary inquiry into whether or not Karmbhoomi is carrying on the activities of 'collective investment scheme' in terms of Section 11AA of the SEBI Act, 1992 (hereinafter referred to as "SEBI Act"), SEBI vide letter dated January 06, 2014 inter alia, sought the following information from Karmbhoomi and its Directors regarding its business activities viz.,: i. Memorandum and Articles of Association as filed with the Registrar of Companies('RoC'), ii. Details of all the Promoters/Directors and key managerial personnel, iii. Brochure, Pamphlets, Application forms, agreement letter/contract, registration letter and allotment letter pertaining to the schemes of Karmbhoomi. iv. Copies of certificates issued to the investors to subscribe to the schemes: v. Structure/terms and conditions of the schemes, vi. Number of investors and amounts collected under various schemes, vii. Copies of Annual Returns, audited Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Accounts of Karmbhoomi since incorporation as filed with RoC, viii. Copies of audited financial statements and Income Tax Returns filed by Karmbhoomi for the last three financial years.

3. Meanwhile, vide another letter dated January 06, 2014, SEBI sought information from the RoC, Kanpur such as address of the company, names of present and past directors, period of directorship, copies of Memorandum and Articles of Association, Annual Returns, Form no. 32, Balance Sheets, Certificate of Incorporation, etc. However, no reply has been received from RoC. 4. As no reply was received from Karmbhoomi and its Directors in respect of SEBI's letter dated January 06, 2014, SEBI issued reminders dated February 21, 2014, April 22, 2014 and May 30, 2014 to furnish the information urgently. The letters issued to one of its Directors viz., Mr. Nirmal Kumar Singh was returned undelivered by the postal authorities with the remarks " Incomplete Address, name of village of the addressee and his father's name not mentioned." It is noted that despite repeated efforts by SEBI to seek information by SEBI, Karmbhoomi and its Directors have failed to furnish any information till date. 5. I have carefully considered the material available on record i.e. information obtained from 'MCA 21 Portal' and the information forwarded by the complainant. In this context, the issue for determination is whether the mobilization of funds by Karmbhoomi through its "Schemes" offered to public falls under the ambit of ‘collective investment scheme’ provided in Section 11AA of the SEBI Act.

6. On an examination of the same, it is prima facie observed:

I. Karmbhoomi (CIN: U70102UP2010PLC040423) was incorporated on April 30, 2010 having its registered office at First Floor, Tera Tower, Bhuteshwar Road, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. The Directors of Karmbhoomi are Mr. Devendra Pal Singh, Mr. Sardar Singh, Mr. Nirmal Kumar Singh, Mr. Manoj Kumar Sengar and Mr. Mahipal Singh. II. From the advertisement pamphlets, Rule book ('Niyamavali'), Career Guide ("Career Margdarshika") and 'Registration letter and receipt cum acceptance letter provided by the Complainant, the following are noted: (i) The Pamphlets issued by Karmbhoomi contain advertisements about its investment plans viz., Single Investment Plans ('SIP') and Recurring Investment Plans ('RIP'). For instance, an investor who invests a contributory amount of `1,00,000/- in SIP is offfered an assured return of ` 4,04,000/- after 10 years. Similarly, in case of RIP, an investor is required to invest ` 1,000/- monthly to get an assured return of `1,40,000/- after 7 years. Furthermore, the advertisements mention that on making such investments, the investor will get free ownership of land and accident policy cover.

(ii) As per the 'Rule Book', Karmbhoomi offers two types of schemes on the basis of payment option to the investors viz., Single Investment Scheme ("SIS") for lump-sum investment and 'Multiple Investment Scheme ("MIS")' for investment in installments. There are eleven schemes in SIS i.e. Nos. 1-9 and 19-20 and eight schemes in MIS. Under the above mentioned two schemes, Karmbhoomi offer/invite investments in respect of sale of plots of variable sizes and the investor is entitled to an estimated realizable value for the plots as per the opted schemes. The details of MIS and SIS schemes provided in the brochure are illustrated as under: Single Installment Scheme No. (1-9 and 19-20) Estimate Realizable Value 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 19 20 Plot Size Acciden 1.6 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 15 in Purchase tal Risk years years years years years Years years years years years years sq.yds Consideratio (18 (36 (48 (60 (72 (84 (96 (108 (120 (144 (180 Coverag. n amount mths) mths) mths) mths) mths) mths) mths) mths) mths) mths) mths) e 5 1000 1200 1400 1550 2000 2100 2320 2560 2900 4040 4600 8100 2000 10 2000 2400 2800 3100 4000 4200 4640 5120 5800 8080 9200 16200 4000 15 3000 3600 4200 4650 6000 6300 6960 7680 8700 12120 13800 24300 6000 20 4000 4800 5600 6200 8000 8400 9280 10240 11600 16160 18400 32400 8000 25 5000 6000 7000 7750 10000 10500 11600 12800 14500 20200 23000 40500 10000 50 10000 12000 14000 15500 20000 21000 23200 25600 29000 40400 46000 81000 20000 75 15000 18000 21000 23250 30000 31500 34800 38400 43500 60600 69000 121500 30000 100 20000 24000 28000 31000 40000 42000 46400 51200 58000 80800 92000 162000 40000

Multiple Installment Scheme No. 12 (5 years) In ` Plot Purchase Estimated Accidental Size Consideration Realizable Risk Sq.Yds. amount MLY QLY HLY YLY Value Profit Coverage 30 6000 100 290 575 1140 9020 3020 12000 60 12000 200 580 1150 2280 18040 6040 24000 90 18000 300 870 1725 3420 27060 9060 36000 120 24000 400 1160 2300 4560 36080 12080 48000 150 30000 500 1450 2875 5700 45100 15100 60000 180 36000 600 1740 3450 6840 54120 18120 72000 210 42000 700 2030 4025 7980 63140 21140 84000 240 48000 800 2320 4600 9120 72160 24160 96000 270 54000 900 2610 5175 10260 81180 27180 108000 300 60000 1000 2900 5750 11400 90200 30200 120000 (iii) It is stated in the Rule Book that generally, plot allotment letter in favour of the purchaser/investor shall be issued within 365 days in case of SIS and within 60 days of the payment of the 50% installments in case of MIS.

(iv) The 'Career guide' for agents of Karmbhoomi contains commission structure for its agents of SIS and MIS schemes. It is noted that the total commission offered to employees/agents of Karmbhoomi goes to as much as 49.75% in MIS schemes and 23.75% in SIS schemes. A separate Accidental Risk Coverage is also provided for the agents which forms part of the commission structure.

(v) The Registration letter and Receipt cum acceptance letter issued in favour of one Mr. Raji Hasan certifies "the person described in the schedule hereto in response to the application cum agreement for the cultivated/Agriculture based Plots booked as per details furnished hereunder". It further certifies "the terms of the allotment shall be governed by the terms of Agreement and General Terms and conditions printed overleaf". However, the terms and conditions were not provided by the complainant.

(vi) It is noted from the 'Registration letter' that the Complainant has invested `20,000/- as lump-sum amount in SIS-4 of the company on 12.11.2012. Tenure of agreement is mentioned as 5 years i.e. 12.11.2017 and the same is also mentioned as date of termination of agreement in the receipt cum acceptance letter. The documents also mention 100 Sq. Yards as size of plot. The Estimated realizable cost which is printed in the document is `40,000/- and it is the same as mentioned in the chart of the SIS scheme of Karmbhoomi. The letter also contains a note stating that Estimated Realizable Cost at the end of the term denotes composite offer for value of Land, Standing Crops, saplings, plants trees and allied items thereon.

III. From the Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss accounts of Karmbhoomi for the financial year 2012-13, the following are noted: a. Karmbhoomi has taken advance from customers against allotment of plots to the tune of `13.61 crores and the same is shown as other current liabilities.

This has increased from the previous year, wherein the advance taken against allotment of plots was `11.26 crores. b. Karmbhoomi has allotted land to its customers/investors by way of sales and has earned sales revenue of `3 crores. It may be noted that the Auditor has written in the Notes on Accounts that Karmabhoomi has not allotted land in some cases but has added the same as sales. c. Karmbhoomi has land stock of `9.61crores. During financial year 2012-13, Karmbhoomi purchased land and incurred development expense to the tune of `6.89 crores.

7. The aforementioned features of the schemes offered by Karmbhoomi have to be considered in light of Section 11AA of the SEBI Act. The aforesaid Section 11AA, which provides for the conditions to determine whether a scheme or arrangement is a ‘collective investment scheme’, reads as follows: “(1) Any scheme or arrangement which satisfies the conditions referred to in subsection (2) or sub-section (2A) shall be a collective investment scheme. Provided that any pooling of funds under any scheme or arrangement, which is not registered with the Board or is not covered under the exemptions from CIS sub-section (3), involving a corpus amount of one hundred Crore rupees or more shall be deemed to be a collective investment scheme. (2) Any scheme or arrangement made or offered by any person under which, (i) the contributions, or payments made by the investors, by whatever name called, are pooled and utilized solely for the purposes of the scheme or arrangement; (ii) the contributions or payments are made to such scheme or arrangement by the investors with a view to receive profits, income, produce or property, whether movable or immovable from such scheme or arrangement; (iii) the property, contribution or investment forming part of scheme or arrangement, whether identifiable or not, is managed on behalf of the investors; (iv) the investors do not have day to day control over the management and operation of the scheme or arrangement. (2A) Any scheme or arrangement made or offered by any person satisfying the conditions as may be specified in accordance with the regulations made under this Act.”

8. In the context of the abovementioned Section 11AA of the SEBI Act, the "Schemes" offered by Karmbhoomi, is examined as under: i. The contributions, or payments made by the investors, by whatever name called, are pooled and utilized solely for the purposes of the scheme or arrangement. Karmbhoomi is soliciting investments from the public through its scheme of sale of plots of land. The amounts are collected for the scheme by offering "Single Investment Scheme (SIS)' and "Multiple Investment Scheme (MIS. An investor who is desirous of investing in the schemes of Karmbhoomi has to execute an 'application cum agreement' for the cultivated/Agriculture based Plots booked as per details mentioned in the registration letter such as Scheme number, plot size, consideration, payment mode, term of the agreement and estimated realizable value. The terms of the allotment shall be governed by the terms of Agreement and General Terms and conditions printed overleaf. It is noted from the copy of ‘Registration Letter’ issued to one of the investors that there is no identified/demarcated plot/land. It is noted from the 'Rule Book' that Karmbhoomi is agreeing to arrange for the allotment and registration of plot in the name of the investor, within a reasonable period, not exceeding 365 days in case of Single Installment Scheme and in cases of Multiple Installment Scheme, the allotment would be done within a reasonable period, generally not exceeding 60 days after receipt of 50% of the consideration. The schemes of the company are for a minimum period of 3 years. As per the financial statements of Karmbhoomi, under the head of current liabilities an amount of `13.61 crores had been mentioned as advance taken from the customers against allotment of plots. This has increased from the previous year, wherein the advance taken against allotment of plots was `11.26 crores. Hence, in the absence of any information/documents to the contrary, it appears that the contributions are collected from the investors under the schemes launched by Karmbhoomi which is pooled and utilized solely for the purposes of the schemes offered by Karmbhoomi. In view of the aforesaid it is evident that the instant Schemes/Plans of Karmbhoomi satisfies the first condition stipulated in Section 11AA(2) of the SEBI Act.

ii. The contributions or payments are made to such scheme or arrangement by the investors with a view to receive profits, income, produce or property, whether movable or immovable from such scheme or arrangement. From advertisement pamphlets it is clear that investors are investing money in the schemes of Karmbhoomi in expectation of the returns promised in the advertisements of the company. In all the schemes, Karmbhoomi promises "estimated realizable cost" to the investors. For instance, if the applicant/investor is investing in Single Installment Scheme (SIS-4) for a period of 5 years for a plot size of 100 sq.yards, where the plot consideration is mentioned as `20,000/-, after the term period of 5 years, the investor is entitled to an 'estimated realizable cost' of `40,000/- i.e. he/she is entitled to an amount of `20,000/- as returns. In light of above, it is prima facie, clear that the investments are made by the applicants/investors with a view to receive returns from the schemes. Hence, I find that the instant scheme of Karmbhoomi satisfies the second condition stipulated in section 11AA (2) of the SEBI Act.

iii. The property, contribution or investment forming part of scheme or arrangement, whether identifiable or not, is managed on behalf of the investors, and iv. The investors do not have day-to-day control over the management and operation of the scheme or arrangement. It is noted from the ' ‘Registration letter' that an investor is promised refund of "Estimated Realizable Cost" at the end of the term for his investment in the schemes of Karmbhoomi. The "Estimated Realizable Cost denotes composite offer for value of Land, Standing Crops, saplings, plants trees and allied items thereon". It is noted from the ‘Registration letter' that the investor is not provided with details in respect of the plot/land purchased and supposed to be allotted by Karmbhoomi in future. This indicates that there is no certainty as regards the plot of land which an investor is going to get on making the payments as contracted. In light of these facts and circumstances, it is clear that the property, contribution or investment forming part of the scheme/Plans are managed by Karmbhoomi on behalf of applicants/investors and they do not have any day-to-day control over the management of the schemes/Plans. It is pertinent to mention here that SEBI has repeatedly sought specific details of its scheme from Karmbhoomi but they have chosen not to give any details despite being given several opportunities. In view of above, I find that the instant scheme/Plans satisfies third and fourth conditions stipulated in Section 11AA (2) of the SEBI Act.

9. From the above analysis, I find that the "schemes" offered by Karambhoomi with a promise of returns when considered in light of peculiar characteristics and features of such scheme, as discussed in the preceding paragraphs, prima facie, satisfy all the four conditions specified in Section 11AA (2) of the SEBI Act. I, therefore, am of the view that Karmbhoomi is engaged in fund mobilizing activity from public, which is in the nature of a ‘collective investment scheme’ as defined in Section 11AA of the SEBI Act.

10. In this context, it is relevant to refer to the observations of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the matter of PGF Limited Vs. Union of India (MANU/SC/0247/2013) that “...sub-section (2) of Section 11AA, which defines a collective investment scheme disclose that it is not restricted to any particular commercial activity such as in a shop or any other commercial establishment or even agricultural operation or transportation or shipping or entertainment industry etc. The definition only seeks to ascertain and identify any scheme or arrangement, irrespective of the nature of business, which attracts investors to invest their funds at the instance of someone else who comes forward to promote such scheme or arrangement in any field and such scheme or arrangement provides for the various consequences to result therefrom.”

11. I note that in terms of Section 12(1B) of the SEBI Act, "no person shall sponsor or cause to be sponsored or cause to be carried on a 'collective investment scheme' unless he obtains a certificate of registration from the Board in accordance with the regulations”. Regulation 3 of the SEBI (Collective Investment Schemes) Regulations, 1999 (hereinafter referred to as "CIS Regulations") also prohibits carrying on CIS activities without obtaining registration from SEBI. Therefore, the launching/floating/sponsoring/causing to sponsor any 'collective investment scheme' by any 'person' without obtaining the certificate of registration in terms of the provisions of the CIS Regulations is in contravention of Section 12(1B) of the SEBI Act and Regulation 3 of the CIS Regulations. In this regard, I note that Karmbhoomi has not obtained any certificate of registration under the CIS Regulations for its fund mobilizing activity from the public under its schemes of land/plot.

12. It is noted that Karmbhoomi was advised to respond to the preliminary inquiry conducted by SEBI vide letter dated January 06, 2014 and reminders dated February 21, 2014, April 22, 2014 and May 30, 2014. However, Karmbhoomi failed to furnish the details of scheme as sought by SEBI. This appears to be a deliberate attempt to avoid furnishing the details to SEBI. In these circumstances, I find that sufficient opportunities have been afforded to Karmbhoomi to respond to SEBI. When considered in the context of the abovementioned prima facie finding, the inescapable conclusion is that non-submission of the information with respect to its schemes to SEBI is nothing but an attempt to conceal the true nature and operation of the fund mobilizing activity of Karmbhoomi.

13. Protecting the interests of investors is the first and foremost mandate for SEBI. Under the circumstances, SEBI has to take immediate steps to prevent activities of companies or entities defrauding investors and damaging the orderly development of the securities market. In order to safeguard the assets/property acquired by Karmbhoomi and its Directors from using the funds collected from the investing public until full facts and materials are brought and final decision is taken in the matter, I find no other alternative but to take recourse to an interim order against Karmbhoomi and its Directors for preventing them from further carrying on with its existing fund mobilizing activity by launching 'collective investment scheme', without obtaining registration from SEBI in accordance with law.

14. In view of above, I, in exercise of powers conferred upon me under Sections 11(1), 11(4) and 11B of the SEBI Act read with CIS Regulations and PFUTP Regulations, hereby direct Karmbhoomi Real Estate Limited (CIN: U70102UP2010PLC040423) and its Directors viz., Mr. Devendra Pal Singh (DIN : 01832091), Mr. Sardar Singh (DIN : 02477583), Mr. Nirmal Kumar Singh (DIN: 03031024), Mr. Manoj Kumar Sengar (DIN: 03031042), Mr. Mahipal Singh (DIN: 05308568): • not to collect any fresh money from investors under its existing schemes; • not to launch any new schemes or plans or float any new companies to raise fresh moneys; • to immediately submit the full inventory of the assets including land obtained through money raised by Karmbhoomi; • not to dispose of or alienate any of the properties/assets obtained directly or indirectly through money raised by Karmbhoomi; • not to divert any funds raised from public at large which are kept in bank account(s) and/or in the custody of Karmbhoomi. • to furnish all the information/details sought by SEBI within 15 days from the date of receipt of this order, including, i. Details of amount mobilized and refunded till date, ii. Details of commission paid on amounts mobilised above, iii. Details of agents along with their addresses, etc., iv. Scheme wise list of investors and their contact numbers and addresses, v. PAN of the aforementioned Directors and vi. Audited Accounts for the last three years.

15. The above directions shall take effect immediately and shall be in force until further orders.

16. This Order is without prejudice to the right of SEBI to take any other action that may be initiated against Karmbhoomi and its abovementioned past and present Directors in accordance with law.

17. The prima facie observations contained in this Order are based on the material available on record. In this context, Karmbhoomi and its Directors may, within 21 days from the date of receipt of this Order, file their reply, if any, to this Order and may also indicate whether they desire to avail themselves an opportunity of personal hearing on a date and time to be fixed on a specific request made in that regard.

Place: Mumbai S. RAMAN Date: December 30, 2014 WHOLE TIME MEMBER SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA