"With most of the companies not fulfilling the investment criteria laid down by rating agencies, it is essential that their bank accounts be frozen along with their assets," Kirit Somaiya, president of IGF, said in a release here.

The Reserve Bank, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the police department will also be made party to the petition, he said, adding that over 10 lakh small investors stand to lose Rs 25,000 crore in plantation companies.

Rating agencies have found most plantation companies are below investment grade and unless their assets were frozen, the promoters might siphon off the money, Somaiya said. Many companies like Arrow Global, Libra Plantations and Gwalior Food and Farms Limited have not refunded their money to investors.

The IGF hasreceived a number of complaints regarding these companies including one that alleges that the list published by Sebi is totally misleading as it has washed its hands off old schemes. The only recourse left to these investors is to go to law.

Another investor has sought IGF's support to see that Arrow Global, which has issued a notice offering a buy-back scheme, does not transfer the money into a new scheme without the written consent of investors.

IGF has invited more investors to send written copies of their complaints to the forum so that they can be annexed to the petition. There were 3559 plantation companies registered between 1994-95 and 1996-97, of which 772 were from Mumbai and 779 from Delhi and Haryana.