HBT faces conspiracy suit now

Manish Jain,the chairman of KoPT,said the contractor has violated the agreement and is liable to pay penalty. We will not allow the ABG-LDA group to uninstall its equipment and shift from Haldia, Jain said.

Kolkata Port Trust KoPT is contemplating a criminal conspiracy suit against ABG-LDA led HBT,which gave a formal notice to the port authorities on Wednesday about its decision to pull out from Haldia Dock Complex with immediate effect.

Manish Jain,the chairman of KoPT,said the contractor has violated the agreement and is liable to pay penalty. We will not allow the ABG-LDA group to uninstall its equipment and shift from Haldia, Jain said.

He said the contractor first gave notice of stalling its operations at the berths,which handles cargo of industrial majors like Tata Steel and SAIL,on August 23. Thereafter the Calcutta High Court intervened and issued two directives on October 12 and 19. The ABG has not abided by the directives of the High Court and has violated the terms of agreement. This issue will be raised on the November 2 hearing at the High Court, Jain said.

The controversy centres around who is liable to pay the penalty since ABG claims it had to pull out since the state had not provided it the security for operations and there were life threats on its officers.

Jain defended that the port authorities had moved the court asking security for ABG but when police were deployed at the berths there was no one to coordinate with the administration from ABGs part. It had even written letters to the state Chief Secretary to provide security.

CEO of ABG Gurpreet Malhi said the company intended to operate and deposited Rs 17.5 lakh with the East Midnapore district administration for deployment of police. But the incident of abduction prompted them to take the decision of pulling out of Haldia. He,however,didnt comment on KoPTs denial to accept termination of agreement.

KoPT had earlier said the board has decided to invoke the exit clauses if ABG didnt resume operations from October 19. Although ABG did not resume operations from October 19,the port authorities did not invoke the exit clauses as the court was negotiating the parties problems.

Story continues below this ad

Jain said the court guided both the port and the contractor to resolve the problems through discussions and has formed a three-member panel to look into the issues.

Govt complains of labour law violations

The state Labour Department has complained to the Union Labour Ministry against ABG for its alleged violation of labour laws. We have received complaints that 275 workers of the agency received text messages informing them that they have been laid off. We have heard their PF and ESI contributions were also not deposited with the proper authorities8230;, said state Labour Minster Purnendu Bose.