Chatterjee Group for constructive talks on auction issue

With the West Bengal government saying it would conduct an auction for valuation of Haldia Petrochemicals Limited (HPL) shares prior to offering them to The Chatterjee Group (TCG), the company is understood to be in favour of "constructive dialogue".

Since the provision of auctioning of shares of HPL does not feature in the agreement signed between TCG and the West Bengal government, a constructive dialogue is needed between the two promoters if this has to be done in a litigation-free manner, a TCG source said.

"TCG has no comments to offer on the West Bengal government's statement. TCG has not succeeded in the courts of law on the ground that TCG's petitions were not maintainable," president of TCG Aniruddha Lahiri said.

"All agreements prior to litigation are valid. In respect of shares there are two distinct and definite agreements: one relates to 155 million shares and the other relating to all the balance shares of WBIDC. The agreements will speak for themselves," he said.

TCG Chairman Purnendu Chatterjee could not be reached for comment as he was abroad.

Meanwhile, a legal opinion by former Chief Justice of India VN Khare has asserted that the transfer of 155 million shares of the West Bengal government to TCG is a "concluded contract".

HPL had sought legal advice from Khare on the status of all agreements reached between the two promoters, the West Bengal government and TCG following the Supreme Court judgement in favour of the state's right to hold on to the shares in September.