The State government will challenge the order by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to handover SAIL-SCL Kerala Limited at Cheruvannur to Chattisgarh Outsourcing Services. The order violated lease agreement set by the State government. Moreover the tribunal did not bother to hear the government before issuing the order, Industries Minister P. Rajeeve said in a press release.
The tribunal had issued the order on May 2 based on a complaint filed by Canara Bank in connection with a ₹45 crore loan provided to the company in 2013. The bank complained that the company had failed to repay the loan. The order was based on a resolution plan submitted by Chattisgarh Outsourcing services in which the company would pay a share of the total debt.
“We had discussed the issue with Canara Bank several times and had come to a one-time settlement agreement. Even the SAIL did not make an effort to save this public sector enterprise and had backed out from the joint venture. The advertisement for the company revival was published in only one daily in Kerala. All these raise several suspicions”, the minister said.
