HC junks Adhir's plea seeking probe into Metro Dairy stake sale

KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Monday refused to initiate a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the Metro Dairy Share Disinvestment, by

holding that no case has been made out for interference against the PIL (Public Interest Litigation) filed by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Bengal Congress President.

The PIL was consequently dismissed with the court stating the state has not adopted any non-transparent or opaque sale of shares.

It was alleged that there was lack of transparency in the Bengal government's sale of its 47 per cent stake in Metro Dairy to private organisation Keventer Agro Ltd in 2017.

In the same year, one Singapore-based private equity fund had invested in the shares of Keventer Agro Limited.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj while orally

dictating the order in open Court opined that the policy decision of the Bengal government to sell its 47 per cent stake in Metro Dairy Keventer Agro in an auction which was purchased in the auction by Keventer Agro for Rs. 85 crore was neither illegal nor arbitrary.

Metro Dairy was established in 1991 as a public-private venture.

After the exit of NDDB, the state-run West Bengal Milk Producers Federation had 47 per cent stake, and

the remaining 53 per cent was owned by Keventer Agro Ltd. In 2017, the West Bengal government had approved the sale of its 47 per cent stake to Keventer Agro in a public auction for Rs 85 crore.

Chowdhury had alleged in his petition that the government, which set up the company with public money, had suffered a loss of at least Rs 500 crore by selling its stake in Metro Dairy to Keventer Agro at a low price. Accordingly, he had contended that a probe must be initiated into the alleged scam.