The Calcutta High Court, on Thursday, ordered the winding up of Dunlop India Ltd. (DIL) asking the official liquidator to takeover the possession of the company’s assets and its books of records.
The Court said this after hearing a winding up petition moved by E. V. Mathai & Company and A. K. Kundu and Company and other creditors, who moved a liquidation petition for non-payment of dues of around Rs.1,000 crore.
Senior management of DIL went into a huddle immediately after the judgment, but offered no official comments beyond saying that they were yet to receive the order and would decide the next course of action after getting their counsel’s advice on this matter.
DIL promoter Pawan Ruia could not be reached.
West Bengal Labour Minister Purnendu Bose said that he was yet to see the order, but if this enabled the workers to get their dues then the state government would welcome it.
“If this order allows liquidation of assets like land and clear the dues of the workers then it would be good,” he told reporters at the State Secretariat. The Sahagunj facility and the estate are housed on 239 acres.
He also said that the state government would explore the possibility of reopening the mother unit at Sahagunj.It may be mentioned that in March 2012, the Calcutta High Court had ordered the appointment of provisional liquidator, whose scope was limited to preparing an inventory of the company’s assets. The state government, appearing before the court during these hearings, had maintained that it was keen to see the factory reopen.
