Liquidator for Hindustan Photo Films Manufacturing Company in Nilgiris disregards Forest Dept’s show-cause notice

The Forest Department sent the liquidator a show-cause notice as it claims 291 acres of the land the liquidator is attempting to e-auction, belong to it; no one however, participated in the October 12 auction

A view of the Hindustan Photo Films Manufacturing Company in the Nilgiris. File | Photo Credit: M. Sathyamoorthy

The liquidator appointed to settle the debts accrued by the Hindustan Photo Films Manufacturing Company Limited, has disregarded a show-cause notice issued to him by the T.N. Forest Department, urging him to stop the auction.

The liquidator had put up the assets of the company for an e-auction, assets that include 291 acres of land leased to it by the Forest Department in the 1960s, to set up the company. The District Forest Officer (Nilgiris division), had issued the show-cause notice stating that the sale of the land on which the company has been set up on is in violation of the Tamil Nadu Forest Act of 1882 and the Indian Forest Conservation Act of 1980. Despite this, the sale of the land was not cancelled, and an e-auction was held on October 12.

The Forest department had approached the Madras High Court urging the court to intervene and pass orders to withdraw the auction notice. However, the lawyer appearing for the liquidator has stated that no one has participated in the auction once again, the Forest Department said in a press release.

Conservationists and local residents have been pushing for the land to be returned to the Forest Department for conservation purposes. They argue that leopards, Indian gaur, sambar deer and even tigers are spotted around the factory premises since its closure, due to the forests reclaiming the land.