core sector communique

Dunlop Special officer

We are disturbed to note that in the recent reports regarding Dunlop India Ltd, the ‘Special Officer’ appointed by the Calcutta High Court is often being referred as the ‘Liquidator’. This is factually incorrect and legally wrong. Business interests of Dunlop India Ltd are being seriously impacted with such reporting, because it leads the readers to believe that Dunlop India Ltd has gone into liquidation and the Official Liquidator is overseeing the winding up operations, while the fact is just the contrary.

Please note that the judgement of Hon’ble Justice Sanjib Bannerjee in the winding up petition against Dunlop India Ltd in the Calcutta High Court passed on 26 March 2012 appointing a provisional liquidator in the company has been subsequently stayed by the Division Bench of Hon’ble Justice Kalyanjyoti Sengupta and Hon’ble Justice Jayamalya Bagchi on 29 March 2012. That is, the appointment of the Provisional Liquidator in Dunlop India Ltd has been stayed by the Hon’ble Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court. In this case Mr K Anand Rao is not acting as the Official Liquidator, but has been appointed as a ‘Special Officer’ of the Hon’ble Calcutta High Court. The Hon’ble Division Bench has limited the responsibility of the ‘Special Officer’ to prepare an inventory of the assets of the company and submit it to the Court.

We have been advised by our legal advisors to issue a clarification in this regard. We expect you to publish an appropriate corrigendum to this effect in your esteemed daily. Needless to mention, we also expect you to refer the representative of the Hon’ble Calcutta High Court as ‘Special Officer’ in your forthcoming reports on the issue.