Kataria (t/a Westlec) v Bandi

JUDGMENT

JUDGMENT

HIS HONOUR JUDGE PURLE QC

This is an application for committal for contempt of court of Mr Vijaya Bhaskar Bandi, whom I shall call Mr Bandi, brought upon the application (ultimately following amendment) of Mr Ranjit Kataria, trading as Westlec, and others, all of whom are listed on the notice of hearing but whose names I shall not repeat for the sake of economy of time. All of the applicants are claimants in proceedings which were brought to judgment and succeeded against the three defendants, Orbit Talk Limited, a Mr Lal and Mr Bandi.

The cause of action was deceit. The claimants successfully established that they had been fraudulently induced to enter into contracts under which they purchased, so they thought, a telephony switch which would produce returns of a very handsome order indeed. I found that there were fraudulent misrepresentations which induced those contracts. The claimants sought not simply damages but also to trace the monies that they had parted with, which were substantial. I made orders both before trial (as an interim order) and following the trial, when liability was established, freezing the assets of, amongst others, Mr Bandi (though that particular order has now come to an end) and directing the provision of information and documents so as to enable, if possible, the claimants to trace the proceeds of the monies wrongly obtained from them. It is those orders for the provision of information and documents that it is said have been broken in this case.

The first order which is said to have been broken is that of 2 nd June 2011. By that order, under paragraph 3, I ordered as follows:

“(i) The respondents are required to identify what has become of any and all of the monies they received from the claimants and to identify any assets which may have been purchased by or on behalf of the respondents or in which the respondents have any beneficial ownership with such monies...

(ii) The respondents are to disclose all bank statements of the first respondent’s bank accounts from 1 st October 2008 to the present date or earlier closure of such accounts insofar as are in the respondent’s possession, custody or control on or before 4pm on 16 th June 2011;

(iii) The respondents are to disclose all other relevant documents relating to payments out of and into the first respondent’s bank accounts from 1 st October 2008 to the present date or earlier closure of such accounts, including for the avoidance of doubt payments of