Tatas, Assam Call Truce

The four-month war of nerves between the Assam government and Tata Tea Ltd has finally been resolved to the satisfaction of both, thanks to mediation by former Assam governor Bhishma Narain Singh since the beginning of November.

The Centre, however, was not involved in the efforts which basically involved Singh, Mahanta and Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata. The three held a closed-door meeting for nearly two hours in mid-November. The wide gap in perception between the two sides on the issue of the tea majors alleged funding of United Liberation Front of Asom militants narrowed down considerably after the meeting, official sources said here yesterday.

The Mahanta government had adopted a strident posture against the company ever since Ulfa activist Pranati Deka was arrested on August 22 in Mumbai, where she was taken under the companys welfare scheme for medical treatment. The state government accused the company of abetting secession and the issue snowballed into a major face-off in the courts and outside, including the publication in the Indian Express of transcripts of a telephone conversation in October involving several prominent individuals.

Two TTL officers, welfare officer Brojen Gogoi and general manager (northern India plantation division) S S Dogra, who were arrested have since secured bail. However, legal wrangling between the state government and the company centred around the possibility of the arrest of managing director R K Krishna Kumar, executive director S M Kidwai and Mumbai office manager K Sridhar.

Action in the matter will now be limited to what has already been carried out: the arrest of Dogra and Gogoi. We never said we would arrest Krishna Kumar, the company secured anticipatory bail for him and others in the Mumbai High Court which we challenged. Since they are cooperating in the investigations there is no reason to arrest them, a senior official told Business Standard.

Bhishma Narain Singh was approached by the companys officials in the last week of October, when the Supreme Court referred a decision on Tata Tea executives anticipatory bail pleas to the Gauhati High Court. Singh, who established a good rapport with Mahanta during the prelude to the signing of the 1985 Assam accord when he was the states governor, was able to convince him to hold talks with Ratan Tata and close one of the many fronts on which the Chief Minister is fighting.

Mahantas presence in New Delhi for attending one of the meetings of the United Fronts steering committee in mid-November was used to fix a meeting with Singh and Tata, who had just returned from abroad. During the meeting, Tata recalled with despair his meeting with Mahanta at Assam House on September 15 during which chief secretary V S Jafa had reportedly adopted an unusually aggressive posture.

Tata maintained that the companys contacts with Ulfa had been made with the full knowledge of the Intelligence Bureau, and his company could not be blamed if the Centre did not pass on the information to the state government. Reiterating that the company had never made cash payments to Ulfa, he said the company had always made payments by cheque, including donations to political parties.

At Singhs behest, Mahanta was said to have realised the futility of carrying on litigation against the company. The message sent to Mahanta was: Just as nobody can believe that Mahanta is anti-national, nobody will be impressed by the Assam governments charge that the Tata group is indulging in anti-national activities.

State government sources pointed out that for nearly a month now, there have been virtually no developments in the case. Even during the Supreme Court hearings, the state governments counsel adopted a soft line on Tata Tea. This led to the observation that the offence in question did not attract the IPC provision relating to waging war against the country, as earlier contended by the state government. Hence, the bailable nature of the offence.

Before the involvement of Singh, there was a sense of despair within the company with Ratan Tata terming the situation hopeless. There was also a proposal to withdraw from the state. However, during the meeting, Tata reiterated TTLs commitment to the development of Assam and increasing the groups activities in the state.

Already beset with several problems, Mahanta reportedly agreed to resolve the issue with TTL. Apparently, he believed he had made his point to the tea industry, which was alleged to be behind the dismissal of his government in 1990. After the meeting with Singh and Tata, Mahanta reportedly gave instructions to officials involved to go slow and ensure that the matter was not carried forward more than necessary. The entire controversy has now almost blown away like the summer clouds. If there is no further provocation from the company, matters will rest here, remarked a state officer.

The state govt and Tata Tea bury their hatchets on the Ulfa links issue.