West Bengal Govt seeks a stay on CLB's order on Haldia Petrochemicals

The Bengal government has filed an appeal in the Calcutta High Court seeking a stay on the Company Law Board's order on Haldia Petrochemicals. The state government had been weighing the option of moving court ever since the CLB directed the state to exit from HPL by selling its stake in the company to The Chatterjee Group (TCG) by disinvesting US$520 million shares in favour of TCG. The CLB had directed both the state and TCG to appear before it on February 20 to suggest a mutually-acceptable valuer for the 520 million HPL shares or at Rs 28.80, whichever was higher. Though TCG has expressed willingness to work in coordination with government, the group would take steps to ensure that its interests are well protected.