34 Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund (FTMF), which sent shock waves in April 2020 by suspending six debt schemes, has written to three lakh unit-holders who invested Rs26,000 crore in these schemes for consent to their winding up. This permission itself is the result hard-fought litigation and an order of the Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court (SC).
But there is something more worrying, almost sinister, this time. While the e-voting is to take place from 26th December to 28th December, there seems to be an orchestrated campaign using social media to push people into signing away their rights without adequate information. FTMF wants unit-holders to vote blind, without any information about the extent of loss, the culpability of its own fund managers, the failure of its trustees, what investors can hope to get back and the payment schedule.