The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has restrained RHC Finance, a firm controlled by Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh, from exercising its voting rights in Religare Enterprises till further orders. The Delhi-based principal bench of the tribunal on Wednesday ordered maintaining status quo on RHC Finance’s voting rights and listed the matter for further consideration on October 7. “We hereby order status quo on the respondents to restrain them from exercising their voting power with the resolution, until the further orders of this bench,” the two-member NCLT bench said. The NCLT order came on an urgent application moved by Religare Enterprises. Religare Enterprises, under the new management, filed a petition before the NCLT seeking cancellation of 2.5 crore Non-Convertible Redeemable Preference Shares (NCRPS) that were issued to RHC Finance, claiming them to be “void ab initio” and “unlawful”. Religare listed brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Mohan Singh and RHC Finance as respondents in its application. It sought interim relief with respect to suspension of voting and dividend rights attached to the preference shares. During the proceedings at NCLT, the bench comprising Acting President B P Mohan and Member H K Sarangi asked whether its permission was obtained before alloting to NCRPS to RHC Finance. To which the counsel replied in the negative. “On the contrary, the counsel for the respondents argued that the only urgent petition has to be taken up for hearing and there is no need to take up the main petition at this point of time,” the NCLT said in its two-page order. Religare Enterprises’ counsel stated that the AGM of the company was in progress (on September 29) and sought interim relief with respect to suspension of voting rights and dividend rights attached to the said 2.5 crore preference shares Admitting it, the NCLT passed an order to maintain status quo and restrained RHC Finance from voting.