Madras High Court Attaches ₹154.63 Crore SEPC Receivables, Appoints PwC To Audit Financial Position

The Madras High Court recently ordered interim attachment of Rs. 154.63 crore from the trade receivables of SEPC Limited, formerly known as Shriram EPC Limited, and appointed an independent auditor to examine its financial position, observing that it “cannot sit like a lame duck” while awaiting submissions from banks claiming charge over the company's assets.

Justice N. Anand Venkatesh passed the order in execution petitions filed by GPE (India) Ltd. seeking enforcement of a foreign arbitral award dated January 7, 2021, passed by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.

The award was upheld by the Singapore International Commercial Court on December 24, 2021.

On January 5, 2023, the Madras High Court declared the award enforceable as a decree. The matter was challenged before the Supreme Court, which, by an interim order dated April 17, 2023, permitted continuation of execution proceedings.

During execution, the award holder pointed to inconsistencies in the asset disclosure affidavits filed by the judgment debtors and highlighted what it described as a diametrically opposite financial picture projected before stock exchanges, the stock regulator and the public, as compared to the position presented before the Court.

Earlier, the Supreme Court directed the respondents to deposit Rs. 125 crore along with interest. After extensions were granted, amounts were deposited and the award holder was permitted to withdraw ₹39.50 crore along with interest during August 2025.

Recording that Rs.154,63,23,499 remains due and payable after adjusting earlier payments, the Court said:

“As an executing Court, this Court has to proceed further to pass certain orders to ensure that the interest of the award holder is safeguarded and at the same time, the actual state of affairs is ascertained by way of getting a report from an Auditor/Audit Firm.”

Noting that a consortium of banks had sought repeated adjournments despite claiming charge over SEPC's assets, the Court said it “cannot sit like a lame duck without proceeding further to safeguard the interest of the award holder.”

The Court ordered interim attachment of trade receivables to the extent of Rs. 154,63,23,499 out of total trade receivables of Rs.449,62,35,793.

“In the absence of any other security available and considering the huge amount that is due and payable to the award holder, this order of interim attachment is warranted,” the judge held.

The attachment will continue until the audit report is received.

The court appointed Puneet Garkhel of PriceWaterHouseCoopers to conduct the audit and identify crystallised liabilities to banks and financial institutions as well as the company's actual assets.

The matter has been posted for March 23, 2026, for filing of the audit report.

For Petitioners: Senior Advocate M.Sricharan Rangarajan and Advocate K.Gowtham Kumar

For Respondents: Advocates R.Murari and Siddharth Katar