| ICICI Bank Filed Letters
Under Seal in SDNY Now After Serves 4
Defendants To Be Unsealed
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
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SDNY COURTHOUSE,
May 28– India's ICICI Bank and
its New York Branch have sued
some dozen Indian business
people alleging fraud and now
seeking to file a sealed
motion.
Back on November 2, 2020 U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave
held an open telephone
proceeding, of which public
notice was given on PACER.
Inner City Press covered
it.
The
proceeding had an ex parte,
nearly private feel. ICICI's
lawyer Adam Finkel of
Sabharwal & Finkel of 250
Park Avenue was asking to file
a motion under seal - and even
to have detail about it
withheld or made "discrete" in
the docket.
Judge Cave said
she would consider how to
describe it; she had asked who
had called in, seeming to say
she wanted to know if the
defendants had sent someone to
keep them involved.
Isn't that the
point of a public proceeding,
though?
On November 16,
there was in the docket a
letter, but still no motion.
The letter: "Re: ICICI Bank
Limited, New York Branch v.
Vishal Doshi, et al., No.:
19-cv-11788 (RA) Dear Judge
Cave: My firm represents the
plaintiffs ICICI Bank Limited,
New York Branch and ICICI Bank
UK plc (collectively, the
“Plaintiffs”) in the above
matter. Default Judgment
against Defendant Alpesh
Panchal: This to follow up as
per my letter to the Court
dated October 9, 2020 as a
result of which the Court
granted Plaintiffs up to
November 17, 2020 to file a
motion for default judgment
against Defendant Alpesh
Panchal. [Docket 60].
Plaintiffs have been unable to
confirm that the Dubai UAE
address at which Defendant was
served is an accurate address
for him. Accordingly, rather
than file a motion for
default, Plaintiffs are
continuing to look for an
accurate address for this
Defendant, along with
addresses for three (3) other
Defendants – Rachna Doshi,
Shrikrishna Sant and Shriraj
Deshpande. Settlement with
Defendants Apoorva Doshi and
Ami Doshi: A settlement
agreement is being finalized
between the Plaintiffs and
these two (2) defendants. We
expect to complete this
process in the next two (2) to
three (3) weeks... cc:
Defendant Apoorva Doshi, pro
se (via electronic mail)."
The listed
defendants include Alpesh
Panchal, Ami Doshi, Apoorva
Doshi, Darshan Banuchandra
Shah, Geeta Doshi, Genashi
Gems Private Limited, Gurudas
Patwardhan, Hiren Shah, Nihar
Parikh, Rachna Doshi, Sanjay
Shah, Shreyas Doshi,
Shrikrishna Sant, Shriraj
Deshpande, Trezza Jewels LLP
and Vishal Doshi.
The resulting
docket entry, for now, states
that "as discussed during the
conference, Plaintiffs' motion
shall be filed by December 2,
2020." But filed entirely
under seal?
On April 21,
2021 this: "STIPULATION:
IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND
AGREED, by and among
plaintiffs, ICICI Bank
Limited, New York Branch and
ICICI Bank UK plc
(collectively, the
"Plaintiffs"), and defendants
Apoorva Doshi and Ami Doshi
only (collectively, the
"Settling Defendants"), by and
through the undersigned
attorneys for Plaintiffs and
by the Settling Defendants
acting pro se, that pursuant
to Rule 21 of the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure the
Settling Defendants be dropped
as parties to this action,
with each party to bear its
own costs and attorneys' fees.
SO ORDERED., Motions
terminated: [73] LETTER MOTION
for Leave to File Stipulation
addressed to Magistrate Judge
Sarah L. Cave from Adam Finkel
dated April 12, 2021. filed by
ICICI Bank UK Plc, ICICI Bank
Limited, New York Branch.
(Signed by Judge Ronnie Abrams
on 4/21/2021)."
On May 28,
another letter was filed - and
automatically sealed.
But now on June
14, Judge Cave has ordered
that since four defendants
were served, now ECF Nos.
67-72, 74 and 76-79 should be
made available to the public.
Watch this site.
The case is ICICI
Bank Limited, New York Branch
et al v. Doshi et al.,
19-cv-11788 (Abrams / Cave)
***
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