SC dismisses Adhir Ranjan's plea for probe into Metro Dairy stake sale
The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain a plea by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury seeking a direction for a probe into the sale of 47 per cent stake in Metro Dairy Ltd by the West Bengal government.
New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain a plea by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury seeking a direction for a probe into the sale of 47 per cent stake in Metro Dairy Ltd by the West Bengal government.
A bench of Justices M.R. Shah and Krishna Murari observed that the procedure, which was adopted by the state government, was correct and transparent.
Senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing the Congress leader, submitted that the state government did not follow the regulations in connection with the sale of assets and pointed out that the government took a wrong decision.
To this, the top court said: "They took a right decision. In the share market, it happens as the prices go up on a day and come down on another day. Auctioning is the prudent decision."
Singh submitted the procedure required setting up a committee that would recommend disinvestment and the ways for going for it. However, the bench was not convinced with his arguments. After hearing arguments, the top court declined to interfere with the findings of the Calcutta High Court and dismissed the plea.
The Calcutta High Court had, on June 13, dismissed the plea by Chowdhury asking for probing the stake sale.
Chowdhury had alleged the state government sold its stake in Metro Dairy at a very low price. He alleged that the state government did not follow a transparent process.