Report by: Pankaj Sharma

Programme: Zee Follow Up

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Telecast: Oct 11, Saturday, 7.30 pm IST

Repeat Telecast: Oct 15, Wednesday, 11.30 am IST One grand project
110 subsidiary companies
6 lakh agents
1500 bank accounts
25 lakh investors
Rs 4000 crore kitty

This story starts, 17 years ago, when a clerk in Chandigarh’s Union Territory Hospitality Department decided to quit his government job. It was the first step Rakesh Kant Syal took towards building an empire by selling a dream called Golden Forest India Ltd(GFIL). A record 25 lakh investors believed him and trusted him with their life long savings. They were ordinary middle class people including widows, handicapped and poor persons from various states. Investors dreamt that their money would be doubled in three and half years, would increase by 10 fold in ten years and 222 times in 25 years. Syal took their money and their land in return for a promise. But today the investors are left empty handed. Their dreams shattered and wallets empty.
Golden Forest India Ltd was registered on 7th March 1987 under Regn No. 7310. The company brochure claimed that the company would develop the land for agro-forestry farms and after a certain period the guaranteed income from trees and cash crops would be sent to them by post-dated cheques. The projects undertaken were humungous. These included construction of amusement parks, hotels, schools and secretariat of Golden Forest, which was the replica of Karnataka Assembly.

It was no surprise then that the booty was quick in coming from the people.
By 1987 the company had raised only Rs 16 lakhs, by 1990 it touched Rs 3 crore and between 1993 to 1997 company took a quantum leap to Rs 200 crore. By December 1997 the company had raised a phenomenal Rs 1037 crore.
But according to the Punjab Vigilance Department estimate that the total collection from investors touched Rs 3000 crore. He paid Rs 450 crores to investors but they put back more money in the scheme. In 1997, the Ministry of Finance ordered Sebi to frame the rules and regulations of operation for agro-based companies.
In November 97, Sebi conducted an investigation into Golden Forest India Ltd. (GFIL) undertaking. After investigation in January 1998, Sebi filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Bombay High Court under PIL No. CWP – 344 of 1998.
The company in response filed a plea saying that its assets were double as compared to its liabilities so it could easily pay off its investors.
In February 2000, Bombay High Court appointed Justice M.L. Pendse (Retd) as private receiver to sell off 19 properties of GFIL and pay back the investors whose claims were outstanding. But GFIL, in its attempt to frustrate the court order started playing mischief and organized filings of various petitions in different high courts through its marketing agents.
In Dec 24, 2000 Punjab Vigilance Bureau filed 6 FIRs against the management and all directors of the company were arrested under various sections.
But this was too little too late for some. 14 agents from Andhra Pradesh and Orissa committed suicide after they failed to get the company to pay back.
At the moment there are 60,000 cases pending against the Golden Forest. The Supreme Court, in order to ensure justice, has asked for all cases in different courts to be transferred to itself to avoid confusion and implement uniform justice.
Today, this is the only ray of hope for the lakhs who are waiting to get back their due.