CCD cheque bounce case: Non-bailable warrant against Malavika Hegde

A non-bailable warrant has been issued in a cheque bounce case against former Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna’s daughter Malavika Hegde, and other directors of the Coffee Day Global Limited (CDGL), which manages Cafe Coffee Day (CCD).

Malavika is the wife of CCD founder late V.G. Siddhartha, who died due to drowning in river Nethravathi in 2019 in Dakshina Kannada district.

The Civil Judge and the JMFC of Mudigere in Karnataka’s Chikkamagaluru summoned CDGL directors to appear before the court following a complaint by a coffee planter K Nandish.

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Nandish has stated that the CDGL had purchased green coffee seeds from him and in return, the CDGL issued him 10 post dated cheques totalling Rs 45,38,554 of Canara Bank in Chikkamagaluru branch.

When he deposited in the Axis Bank where he has the account, the cheques were dishonoured as there were insufficient funds, according to the complaint.

“The first date of appearance was October 6. Since they failed to appear before the magistrate on the said date in spite of serving of the summons, the court has issued a non-bailable warrant,” Nandish’s lawyer, Halekote A Thejawi told PTI.

Related news: Coffee sans Siddhartha will not taste the same

He added that the matter has been posted to November 11 and they have to appear before the court and get the warrant recalled.

Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Nandish said he had been supplying coffee seeds to Siddhartha’s company ABC for many years.

When Siddhartha was alive, he used to issue deferred cheques with an interest of 10 to 12 per cent, Nandish said.

“Due to death, all our payments were held up but later the people in the organisation assured us that they will honour their cheques and our money will not go anywhere,” he said.

They said they would completely clear the dues by November, he alleged.

A Coffee Day spokesperson said, “We had outstanding payments to 1,020 coffee planters of Chikkamagaluru and Hassan one year back. We have fully paid back 700 plus planters in the last 11 months. We have also made part payments to the remaining planters. The group’s fund raising plans were hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic and hence the delay in completing the payments. But we remain committed to meeting all our obligations.”

(With inputs from PTI)