UAE court orders B.R. Shetty to pay $45.99 million to SBI after finding he lied under oath
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Dubai: The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts has ordered B.R. Shetty, founder of the now-collapsed NMC Healthcare Group, to pay $45.99 million (Dh168.7 million) to the State Bank of India (DIFC Branch) after finding that he lied under oath about signing a personal guarantee for a $50 million (Dh183.5 million) loan.
In a judgment issued on October 8, Justice Andrew Moran described Shetty’s testimony as “an incredible parade of lies” and called his evidence during the September 29 hearing “incoherent and nonsensical.” The court said there was “overwhelming witness and documentary evidence” proving that Shetty personally signed the guarantee in December 2018, making him liable for the debt.
Under the ruling, Shetty must pay $45,997,554.59 (Dh168.8 million), including interest up to the judgment date, with post-judgment interest set at 9 per cent per year, accruing at roughly $11,341 (Dh41,645) per day until full repayment.
The case centred on whether Shetty had personally guaranteed a $50 million loan extended by State Bank of India (SBI) to NMC Healthcare in December 2018. Shetty denied signing any documents or meeting the bank’s CEO, claiming his signature was forged.
However, the court was presented with photographs, meeting notes, and emails from Shetty’s own account contradicting his version.
The bank’s then-CEO, Anantha Shenoy, testified that he travelled to NMC’s Abu Dhabi office on December 25, 2018, where Shetty signed the guarantee in his presence. Shenoy also produced photographs taken weeks later showing Shetty with senior SBI officials, apparently thanking them for the facility. When shown the photos, Shetty claimed the officials must have “just come and stood there” while he posed for pictures with the chairman.
The court dismissed these claims as “false and discreditable manoeuvring designed to evade liability.”
Justice Moran also rejected Shetty’s claim that NMC employees once held a competition to see who could best forge his signature, calling the explanation “bizarre.”
Handwriting experts testified that the signatures on the guarantee, sanction letter, and related documents matched Shetty’s handwriting. The judge said the evidence against him was overwhelming.
The ruling marks another blow to the 83-year-old Indian billionaire, once hailed as one of the UAE’s most successful Indian entrepreneurs. Shetty founded NMC Healthcare in the mid-1970s, building it into the UAE’s largest private healthcare provider, alongside other ventures such as UAE Exchange and Finablr.
At its peak, NMC was listed on the London Stock Exchange and valued at more than $10 billion (Dh36.7 billion). But the company collapsed in 2020 after hidden debts of over $4 billion (Dh14.68 billion) were discovered, triggering international investigations.
Shetty resigned as joint non-executive chairman of NMC in February 2020. The company was later placed under administration in Abu Dhabi, while Shetty left the UAE and returned to India, citing health reasons.
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Climate Change crisis: IMD to change parameters to declare heatwaves
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The IMD, along with its technical partners, will soon revise the criteria for declaring heatwave conditions in the country, as the present parameters do not suit India’s geographical conditions, according to official sources here.
Kerala, in particular, has faced difficulties in issuing heatwave warnings because of the limitations of the existing parameters.
Sources in the India Meteorological Department said the state experienced severe heat and humidity this summer and, for the first time, weather forecasts were made based on the anti-cyclone system that formed near the Karnataka–Maharashtra coast.
"We have never had an anti-cyclone system form closer to the South before, and this time we had to predict the weather based on it," a senior IMD official told PTI.
Anti-cyclonic systems are common over north-western parts of India, but this year one formed near the southern region, leading to unusually hot nights.
The anti-cyclone caused downward air movement, which pushed warm air towards the surface and prevented it from dispersing at night, the official added. As a result, Kerala recorded night temperatures 3 to 4 degrees Celsius above normal.
Because Kerala has experienced a steady temperature increase during the summer months for the last few years, changing the parameters for declaring heat waves would benefit the state, enabling the authorities to issue warnings more efficiently, the official added.
The IMD currently issues hot and humid weather warnings, although the situation warrants a heatwave warning, as the existing parameters do not allow the department to issue one.
At present, the IMD issues a heat wave warning in coastal areas when the maximum temperature reaches 37 degree Celsius or more with a temperature departure of 4.5 degree Celsius over the recorded maximum temperature.
For plains, the threshold is 40 degrees Celsius with a departure of 4.5 degrees Celsius or more from normal, while for hilly regions it is 30 degrees Celsius with a departure of 4.5 degrees Celsius or more.
Officials said the current heatwave declaration parameters also require these conditions to be recorded at two stations in the state to issue the warnings.
"In Kerala, we hardly get to record these conditions in two areas; moreover, we have severe heat stress that can easily cause a heat stroke. So we have decided to rework the heatwave declaration parameters and the changes will be implemented shortly. There will be a consultation with the Disaster Management Authority also before finalising the parameters," the official said.
Throughout Kerala, temperatures recorded this summer were three to four degrees Celsius higher than usual. The state also reported multiple cases of heatstroke despite regular warnings issued by the IMD and the state disaster management authority.
According to experts, Kerala has become a climate change hotspot, with a steady increase in atmospheric temperatures and erratic monsoons.
The IMD has also predicted a below-normal monsoon this year, as this is the first time two consecutive El Nino years are being witnessed.
