RBTL faction appears before government

One of the factions of the family claiming ownership of mining firm, Ram Bahadur Thakur Ltd (RBTL) today appeared before the secretary, steel and mines department of Orissa government, who is conducting an administrative enquiry into the multi-crore mining scam in the state.

The advocate representing the Brij Mohan Sharma today appeared before Ashok Dalwai, the state mines secretary and submitted the documents sought by him pertaining to the status of the company i.e. whether the company is under liquidation or not, legality of the power of attorney issued by it to Shakti Ranjan Das.

However, the other faction representing the late Chaturbhuj Sharma (though the notice was issued to his son Manoj Sharma) didn’t turn up. The government will scrutinise the documents submitted by Brij Mohan Sharma group, sources said.

It may be noted, as part of the administrative enquiry, Dalwai had served notice to B M Sharma and Manoj Sharma (son of late Chaturbhuj Sharma) to produce the documents as to whether the company is liquidated or not. They were asked to produce the order of the division bench of the Patna High Court pertaining to the liquidation of the company.

Though both the factions were asked to submit their documents on 7th October, the hearing was re-scheduled to 16 October.

There were allegation of rampant theft and illegal mining of iron and manganese ores in the mines held by RBTL at Rudukela and Katasahi in Keonjhar district. The submission of documents will help in determining whether the government will grant Mining Lease (ML) to the company or not.