The divestment ministry has appealed to the division bench of the Kolkata High Court challenging the judgement of March 2003 regarding the divestment process in Jessop & Company. The hearing has been scheduled for June 17.
In March 2003, a single-member bench of the Kolkata High Court had granted a stay order for four weeks on the divestment process.
It had asked the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction to re-consider divestment of the company. Jessop & Co was referred to the BIFR in 1995.
The judgement raised questions about the process of divestment and valuation adopted for Jessop & Co.
Government sources said that the ministry of divestment had taken strong exception to the judgement as the divestment process followed for Jessop & Company was in accordance with government policy.
The Jessop divestment issue had been referred to the Kolkata High Court in February 2002 as the employees of the company had filed a petition against the divestment of the company.
The objection was that the company belonged to a strategic industry and hence should not be divested.
Interestingly, the March 2003 judgement also turned down the employees' petition. The 1,500-strong employee body of the company has also appealed against the judgement.
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