By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Especially when Sajjan Jindal led JSW Steel’s proposed acquisition of Sanjay Singhal led Bhushan Power and Steel Limited monitoring professional MK Khandelwal under the scanner of Enforcement Directorate and the Central law enforcement agency , had already accused BPSL of mysteriously transporting finished goods worth Rs 700 Crore from its Jharsuguda plants in Odisha to its other facilities in West Bengal and Punjab without paying statutory taxes and duties to both State and Centre, former Odisha DGP and 1985 batch IPS officer Kunwar Brajesh Singh , joining the under scanner Company , has raised many eyebrows in both industrial and political circles of this mineral and coal rich State. Did Banks approve this appointment? Asked a senior Advocate of the Supreme Court, who is closely monitoring JSW Steel-BPSL Fraud case.
The ED had claimed that the goods had been illegally removed “both prior and during proceedings before (the National Company Law Tribunal) NCLT with due involvement of M.K. Khandelwal, Resolution Professional and former Director of BPSL in a bank fraud case”
P Sasindran, Plant Head (E&Y Team) in a note dated September 1, announced that the former IPS officer Singh has joined Bhushan Power Steel Limited as Head Administration and his work place will be both at Jharsuguda and New Delhi headquarters. BPSL is a highly indebted sick company. It has more than 19,000 employees in its three plants and sub-plants in Jharsuguda in Odisha, Kolkata and Chandigarh, its offices in Delhi and Kolkata and its branch offices located in 32 different locations across the country.
At present, a team of executives from the international accounting and consultancy bigwig, Ernst & Young, is managing the day-to-day affairs of the company. The EY team comprises several individuals. At least 6 of them, who have held senior positions in JSW in the past, have come on board as members of the EY team. They are:Pochappan Sasindran, former chief operating officer (COO) of JSW, Ranga Rao R V Ramachandruni, former vice president (commercial) of JSW, Bidyut Kumar Das, former vice president (projects) of JSW, Poyyamozhi Venkatachalam, former vice president of JSW, Ravindranath Kolli, former vice president (projects) of JSW; and Major Prashant Kumar Das, former head (human resources).
“We are pleased to announce the joining of Kunwar Brajesh Singh IPS(Retd) in BSPL Organisation as ‘Head Administration’. He will be based at Jharsuguda and New Delhi as need be. He shall report to be undersigned. Singh will hold responsibility for plant administration, security, vigilance, PR, Liaison, Land, Legal, mines and Environment,” the E&Y note said.
“Dinesh Singh(ED and Occupier), MK Singh(GM) Security and Vigilance, Bhupinder Singh Khushwa Sr DGM(Hospitality, Col JS Choudhury, VP(Plant Administration and House Keeping), Vaibhav Agarwal Sr GM(Legal), Ranjit Ghose Sr GM(Environment), YK Agarwal Sr GM(Mines) will report to Singh,” it said.
“Singh is a retired IPS Officer of Odisha cadre of 1985 batch and he has handled many important assignments like DGP, Vigilance, CMD OSRTC and SPs of variuos districts of Odisha.We well come Singh to BPSL family and look forward for a successful and rewarding association with us,it added.
A case is pending before the Supreme Court on grant of immunity from investigations by the ED into allegations of financial fraud purportedly committed by the former promoters of BPSL, including Sanjay Singal (who was the company’s chairman and managing director) and his wife Aarti Singal. The ED filed a case against the Singals and other former directors of the company under the PMLA for allegedly siphoning off Rs 2,348 crore from various banks. In November 2019, Sanjay Singal was arrested by the ED.
While JSW seems unwilling to implement the resolution plan or to release the bid value to the financial creditors, it seems to be calling the shots in BPSL through its former employees, among other personnel hired with the help of Khandelwal and with the approval of a steering committee. At present, a team of executives from the international accounting and consultancy bigwig, Ernst & Young, is managing the day-to-day affairs of the company.
JSW has not released the bid value of Rs 19,350 crore to the creditors of BPSL that comprise over two dozen Indian banks (mainly in the public sector) as well as foreign banks, financial institutions and private entities in the country and abroad, sources said adding these appointments reportedly took place with the approval of BPSL’s steering committee, which is currently overseeing the implementation of the resolution plan for BPSL.
