On 17th Dec 2003, the competent authority of SEBI filed charges against Mr. Arun Dutia and others associated with the fraudulent formation and running of Amrutleela Agro Forestry Ltd. The charge was that he and others mentioned in the order did not repay investors as per regulations. The case was referred to the State Government of Maharashtra for filing of civil/criminal proceedings for fraud, cheating, criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds against him and others named in the order.

The second charge by SEBI was that the persons associated with the entity including Mr. Arun Dutia did not apply for registration of CIS because of which SEBI requested the DCA to initiate winding-up of the entity Amrutleela Agro Forestry Ltd. A third regulatory action taken was to debar and restrain Mr. Arun Dutia and others from associating with or accessing the capital market/intermediaries for the next 5years till 2ndJuly 2006.

The tragedy is that Mr. Arun Dutia has till date not paid back anyone whose money he pocketed and yet continues to live freely in Kolkata now as can be seen by his online presence without feeling any guilt for his actions. His financial position is good today. However, he has not got back in touch with those who he duped of their money and has neither shown any willingness to return what he owes them. It shows an utter lack of conscience and a failure of our legal system to follow-up on the whereabouts of crooks like these and bring them to justice.