Hyderabad: Supreme Court Wednesday directed Heera Group chief Nowhera Shaik to surrender before the jail authorities concerned within a week, cautioning that failure to comply would result in the issuance of a non-bailable warrant. The court also made it clear that any future consideration of bail would depend on her cooperation in executing pending sale deeds.This direction follows the court’s observation that Nowhera has not been cooperating in the execution of 16 sale deeds in favour of auction purchasers, despite the Enforcement Directorate having already received the full sale consideration. Describing the matter as a large-scale fraud involving thousands of investors, with the alleged scam amounting to approximately Rs 10,000 crore, the apex court underscored the urgency of completing the process without further delay.The order was passed on April 8 by a bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan after hearing submissions from counsel representing Shaik and the ED. The bench observed once Nowhera surrenders, her counsel may inform the ED of her willingness to proceed with the execution of the sale deeds. In such a case, she may be escorted to the sub-registrar’s office to complete the necessary formalities. It further clarified that, upon execution of all 16 sale deeds and completion of related procedures, she would be at liberty to approach the court again for bail.Setting a firm timeline, the court stated that if the sale deeds are not executed within two months from April 8, it would direct the Registrar of the Supreme Court to undertake the execution of the deeds. Nowhera’s counsel alleged that the ED had misled the court, claiming that one property had already been registered and another was not in her name. The agency, however, maintained more properties remain to be auctioned.The ED and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office are currently investigating the Heera Group for allegedly collecting funds from thousands of investors by promising annual returns of 36% and subsequently diverting those funds into assets held in the names of Nowhera, her associates, and various group entities.Earlier, the ED had provisionally attached assets worth approximately Rs 400 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. This attachment was later confirmed by the adjudicating authority, and a prosecution complaint has since been filed before a special PMLA court in Hyderabad.
