'Want to reopen closed Bengal unit: Dunlop India tells court'

Kolkata, April 3 (IANS) Tyre maker Dunlop India Ltd (DIL) Tuesday urged the Calcutta High Court to stay its earlier order of appointing a provisional liquidator as it wanted to reopen its manufacturing unit in Hooghly within a week.

"The company officials Monday met key ministers and discussed the ways of reopening the plant. We are exploring all avenues and within a week we hope to reopen our Shahganj unit," company counsel Kalyan Banerjee told a division bench of Justices K.J. Sengupta and J.M. Bagchi.

Top company officials Monday met state Labour Minister Purnendu Bose and Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee and discussed ways and means to restart the factory.

The West Bengal government - a party to the litigation - also echoed the company's views and said it was willing to extend all help to DIL in reopening the plant.

"The government is concerned about the fate of the workers of the unit and wants it to be reopened soon. We are willing to extend all help to the company in its effort to restart the Shahganj unit," Advocate General A. Mitra told the court.

The court also rapped the official liquidator for making public the inventory list of the company's assets he was asked to prepare by the court.

The liquidator was ordered to prepare the inventory afresh and submit it before the court in a sealed envelope.

Justice Sanjib Banerjee of the high court, while hearing a winding up petition filed by Madura Coats - a creditor of the company, March 26 ordered the appointment of a provisional liquidator to look after the assets of the company.

The official liquidator of the court was asked to act as the provisional liquidator.

The tyre maker March 29 had appealed against the order during which the division bench asked the provisional liquidator to act as a "special officer of the court" and prepare an inventory of the company assets.

The case will next be heard April 18.