By Our Correspondent
CUTTACK/BHUBANESWAR: ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel Ltd (formerly Essar Steel India Ltd), Tata Steel BSL Ltd (formerly Bhushan Steel Ltd) and Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd, got a major relief after a Division Bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice CR Dash of the High Court of Orissa on Monday disposed of a PIL challenging the auction process and issuance of Letter of Intent to these companies.After hearing the counsels for various parties, the court informed them that the interim orders are vacated and the writ petition is disposed of in terms of a written order, which would follow.
The auction process for grant of Iron Ore blocks was initiated by the Government of Odisha for Ghoraburhani-Sagasahi block, Kalamanga West block, Netrabandha-Pahar block, and the Letters of Intent in respect of these blocks were issued to Essar Steel India Limited, Bhushan Steel Limited, and Bhushan Power & Steel Limited respectively.
Later, these companies went into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process, and under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code 2016, the management and control of such companies were taken over by the successful resolution applicants.
The main thrust of the argument of the Petitioner was that the three Iron Ore blocks were given to the entities, which were financially distressed, defaulted on their payments, and subsequently went into the Resolution Process on this account.
Harish N. Salve, Senior Advocate appeared on behalf of ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel Limited (formerly Essar Steel India Ltd.) and submitted that the company was admitted to the Resolution Process on 02.08.2017 i.e., 17 months after the issuance of the Letter of Intent dated 28.03.2016.
He also highlighted that at all point of times and even during the Resolution Process, the company adhered to the eligibility criteria prescribed under the Tender Documents.
