BREAKING: Assam paper mills e-auction ‘called off’
An auction notice published earlier had fixed the reserve price of the paper mills at Rs 1,139 crore
GUWAHATI: The e-auction for the two defunct paper mills in the state is not going to happen, informed the Hindustan Paper Mill Corporation Limited (HPCL) before the Gauhati high court.
The debt-ridden and now-defunct Nagaon and Cachar paper mills of the government-owned HPCL were facing the issuance of an e-auction notice. An auction notice published earlier had fixed the reserve price of the paper mills at Rs 1,139 crore.
The revelation came to the fore during the hearing of an interim petition filed by the HPCL officers and supervisors association and two others seeking the court’s intervention in the matter.
Over 1,200 employees of these two mills were deprived of their dues for over 50 months now. While the Nagaon Paper Mill has been closed (without notice) in March 2017, the Cachar Paper Mill was shut down (also without notice) in October 2015.
Out of some 88 dead employees, four committed suicide so far.
During the hearing on Wednesday, advocate V Sibal, learned counsel representing HPCL chairperson, said that no one has responded to the e-auction sale notice for sale of HPCL and therefore the e-auction was not going to take place.
In view of the development, the Gauhati high court dismissed the interim applications.
