The Kolkata Port Trust’s decision to award a service contract to cargo-handling company Ripley has been questioned, with a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking an independent enquiry to find what led to the recent trouble at the Haldia Dock Complex and fix responsibility for it.
In a PIL filed with the Kolkata Port Trust on Tuesday, the National Forum For People’s Rights, a non-governmental organisation, said the state government and the port trust had acted “arbitrarily” in allowing Ripley and other private cargo-handling companies to negotiate directly with importers and exporters. The PIL was taken up for hearing on Tuesday.
The petition also raised questions on the operations of companies belonging to Swapan Sadhan Bose, Trinamool Congress leader and member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha. It sought to know how these were “carrying out shore-handling operations inside and outside the Haldia Dock system since 1977 without any contractual arrangement”.
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When contacted, Ripley Director Shoumik Bose and Haldia Dock Complex Deputy Chairman Manish Jain did not comment on the issue. However, a senior official told Business Standard such contracts were signed by importers and exporters, adding these weren’t awarded by ports. “This is a common practice for all major ports; there is nothing wrong in it,” he said.
The PIL sought a commercial audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India to ascertain the revenue loss of the Kolkata Port due to no shore operations at the second and eighth berths. Kolkata Port Chairman R P S Kahlon, who took charge recently, said he wasn’t aware of the issue.
The PIL, filed against Kolkata Port Trust authorities, shipping ministry officials and Ripley & Co among others, alleged the government had “showered blessings upon some private companies for carrying out operations at the Haldia Dock Complex”.
The petitioners stated in all the berths, excluding the second and the eighth (which were operated by ABG), Ripley was involved in shore-handling operations of about 10 million tonnes of cargo, charging Rs 200 a tonne but sharing nothing with the port. “They (Ripley & Co) are not contractors of the port. They are just working with their muscle power and earning Rs 200 crore a year,” the PIL alleged. In 2010, ABG had been selected to operate the berths at the Haldia Dock Complex.
Recently, the Kolkata High Court had allowed ABG Haldia Bulk Terminals to move equipment worth Rs 140 crore from the Haldia Dock Complex. The Kolkata Port had moved the high court, seeking compensation of Rs 233 crore for the losses suffered due to ABG’s exit. The PIL mentioned a loss of Rs 3,796 crore.
Among those mentioned in the PIL as respondents were the Kolkata Port’s chairman, deputy chairman (HDC), the board of trustees, the shipping secretary and secretaries of the water resources and labour ministries.
