New Delhi: A detailed complaint has been submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) seeking a high-level investigation into alleged financial irregularities at Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL), Pimpri — a Schedule-C Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Department of Pharmaceuticals — and the role of its Managing Director, Ms. Nirja Saraf, who has held office since October 1, 2016. The complainant, a Delhi-based social activist, has requested that his identity be withheld, citing a documented pattern of evidence disposal at the PSU.
The complaint, supported by the company’s own audited financial statements, GST returns, MCA filings and bank records, alleges quantified losses and exposures exceeding ₹100 crore, apart from what it describes as falsification of accounts running into hundreds of crores.
Fake invoicing and input tax credit
The centrepiece of the complaint is the alleged purchase of medical machines worth ₹28.84 crore (taxable value) from a Pune-based vendor, Mediginic Health Solutions Pvt. Ltd., on which HAL availed input tax credit (ITC) of ₹3.29 crore. The vendor’s own audited financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies reportedly show zero purchases, zero cost of materials and zero inventories for three consecutive years (FY 2020-21 to FY 2022-23), while its MCA-declared business activity is software publishing and its paid-up capital is ₹1 lakh. GST returns cited in the complaint show the vendor discharged output tax of ₹99.91 lakh in cash — described by tax experts as a hallmark of invoice-selling.
HAL’s own statutory auditors have recorded that the company utilized ₹88.87 lakh more ITC than was available as per GSTR-2B in FY 2022-23, maintained no vendor-wise GST purchase register, and — in the audit report for FY 2024-25 — availed ITC on the basis of GSTR-2B “without possession of a valid tax invoice”, contrary to Section 16 of the CGST Act. According to the complaint, around 230 of the approximately 300 machines procured on 100 per cent advance payment lay unsold in HAL’s stock for over eight months, while HAL’s own annual report shows machine sales of barely ₹5.98 crore for the entire year.
“Balances written off” of ₹382.95 crore
The complaint flags an entry in HAL’s consolidated financial statements for FY 2023-24 recording “Balances Written Off — ₹382.95 crore” credited as income — an entry absent from the company’s standalone accounts. The entry allegedly converted a standalone loss of ₹36.13 crore into a consolidated “profit” of ₹229.72 crore. HAL is simultaneously shown in credit bureau records as a “suit-filed defaulter” to Punjab National Bank (₹52.22 crore), Bank of Baroda (₹18.46 crore) and Central Bank of India (₹11.51 crore).
The ₹100 crore MAPL gap
A further allegation concerns Maharashtra Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (MAPL), a HAL subsidiary sealed by the Sales Tax Department since November 2003. HAL’s books reportedly show ₹34.35 crore due from MAPL, while MAPL’s books show ₹134.30 crore — an unreconciled difference of ₹99.95 crore, flagged by auditors in four separate audit years with the observation that “no explanation has been provided for the discrepancy.” In FY 2024-25, the complaint notes, the amount was adjusted against reserves as an “Intergroup Adjustment” of ₹99.94 crore — in the very year the Comptroller and Auditor General of India declined to conduct a supplementary audit of the company.
Other allegations
The complaint also cites: negative inventory balances of ₹874.54 crore in HAL’s own trial balance (FY 2024-25 audit); a physical stock shortage of ₹944.71 lakh recorded in FY 2022-23; the supply of 1,504 “Health ATM” machines to the Maharashtra Public Health Department at ₹6.10 lakh per unit against a GeM price of ₹4.48 lakh — a premium of about ₹24.36 crore of public funds — on a nomination basis; payments of ₹32.75 lakh by HAL to a company owned by the fiancé of the MD’s daughter, allegedly undisclosed in related-party filings; and the booking of ₹11.02 crore to a Faridabad-based LLP two days before the Chief Vigilance Officer’s audit in November 2025, followed by a change of that firm’s partners thirteen days later.
HAL’s net worth stood at a negative ₹724.59 crore as on March 31, 2025, with accumulated losses of ₹796.31 crore. The complaint also records that an arbitration award of ₹127.50 crore in HAL’s favour has remained unenforced since 2003, and that over 13 acres of the Pimpri campus stand encroached, with the Land Officer’s reports allegedly suppressed.
Demands
The complainant has sought a special audit by the C&AG of HAL and its subsidiaries from FY 2016-17 onwards, a CBI/CVC inquiry against the Managing Director under the Prevention of Corruption Act, action by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence under Sections 70, 74 and 132 of the CGST Act, immediate securing of the company’s ERP and records, and the removal of the MD from charge pending inquiry.
Officials at HAL did not respond to queries. The allegations remain to be investigated; the company’s statutory auditors’ qualifications cited in the complaint are, however, matters of public record filed with the Registrar of Companies.
(The identity of the complainant has been withheld on request. This report is based on the complaint and the statutory documents annexed to it; the allegations are under examination and no guilt has been established.)
