Duncans plea against HC order

TT, Calcutta, Feb. 24: Duncans Industries Ltd today filed an appeal against the single bench order of Calcutta High Court directing the company to pay Rs 4 crore with a special officer for meeting wage dues in seven of its ailing gardens in the Dooars in north Bengal.

The matter is likely to come up before a division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur on Friday.

Justice Sanjib Banerjee, while delivering the order on Friday, had restrained the Gouri Prasad Goenka-led group from selling tea produced in the seven gardens "without previous leave of the court".

Legal sources said Duncans has sought a stay on the entire order of Justice Banerjee.

Earlier, the company had moved a petition before the high court challenging the notification issued by the central government on January 28 in which it had directed the Tea Board of India to take over the management of six gardens of Duncans and one garden of Shantipara Tea Co, all belonging to G.P. Goenka.

Justice Banerjee stayed the operation of the notification by the Union ministry of commerce, noting that the aim of the government move was to ensure welfare of the workers. But the workers may not get anything if legal disputes over the gardens continue, the high court observed.

Duncans had reached a tripartite agreement with labour unions and the Bengal government before central notification came and start paying wages from February. The single bench stayed the notification to ensure that Duncans honour the agreement.

However, the stay was vacated automatically when Duncans did not deposit Rs 4 crore by Monday 4pm in the designated bank account under effective control of the director, tea development, Tea Board of India, who was nominated as the special officer.

Duncans sources said clampdown on sale of tea from the seven gardens was unacceptable to the company. Moreover, it also questioned the math behind depositing Rs 4 crore for wages. The court had said of the Rs 4 crore, Rs 2.19 crore would be for wage dues, the rest would remain with the special officer.

Duncans has 14 tea gardens in the Dooars and Darjeeling. Tea unions have alleged that since April last year, the company has not paid wages to its employees. Several deaths have been reported in the group's gardens, which the union leaders have blamed on malnutrition.

The state government has denied that lack of food led to the deaths.