The Andhra Pradesh High Court on August 31 rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Speak Asia. The PIL sought to consolidate all investigations into the company under a single agency, set a time limit for the probe, and prohibit further arrests of individuals connected to Speak Asia.
Ashok Bahirwani, spokesperson for the All India SpeakAsia Panelist Association (AISPA), publicly covered these legal developments. AISPA's website domain, aispa.co.in, is registered to Atul Kulkarni of Karnanisoft Technologies.
Speak Asia's request to merge all investigations aimed to simplify its legal defense and potentially narrow the scope of charges. Different agencies had brought various charges against the company. Limiting prosecution to one agency would mean facing only one set of charges, possibly rendering new charges unaddressable.
The PIL's second request, to ban future arrests, was seen as a move to protect Speak Asia management. CEOs Harendar Kaur and Manoj Kumar are reportedly hiding overseas, damaging the company's credibility. Both are wanted for questioning by Indian authorities. Tarak Bajpai's re-arrest by different regulatory agencies also posed a problem for the company.
Corporate Frauds Watch submitted an affidavit against Speak Asia's PIL. The affidavit stated that new First Information Reports (FIRs) had been filed by panelists in Andhra Pradesh. Granting Speak Asia's PIL would have rendered these FIRs ineffective, preventing arrests during the investigation.
Bahirwani criticized the panelists who filed new FIRs. He called their actions "ghar ka bhaidee... lanka dhaaye" and urged other Speak Asia members not to file their own FIRs. He claimed that "No court, no CID, no EOW, no FIR can return or ensure the return of your monies save and except the company Speak Asia." He added, "If you understand this, 90% of our problems will be over."
This stance suggests AISPA believes that if Speak Asia loses its legal battles, panelists will not recover the "hundred-plus million" reportedly siphoned out of India by Harendar Kaur. Bahirwani operates on the assumption that Speak Asia would win in court if members refrained from independent legal action.
The court rejected the PIL not because of the FIRs themselves, but due to the underlying reasons for those FIRs. Speak Asia's business model is recruitment-driven, which has consistently led to legal setbacks. Corporate Frauds Watch's lawyers did not need to argue the PIL; the judge dismissed it based solely on the submitted affidavit.
Bahirwani and AISPA now chastise members who initiated legal action against Speak Asia. They have called for unity in what they term a "war" against Indian authorities. Bahirwani also criticized media reports on the case, claiming they were "deploringly negative" and incorrectly stated the court ordered CID to make arrests.