HPC Liquidator Plea For Liquidation Of Mills

In the final hearing of the liquidation case of the two Hindustan Paper Corporation (HPC) mills (Nagaon and Cachar) of Assam that is scheduled on Monday, the HPC liquidator has filed a plea for issuance of directions permitting the liquidation of the corporate debtor – HPCL in accordance with the law.

In the matter of Alloy & Metals (India) versus Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd, the liquidator of the corporate debtor – HPC, stated that the scheme submitted by one of the respondents is of "no purpose" and will be "expedient and in the interest of all stakeholders as per law".

The plea also states that "all sincere efforts have been made to explore the section 230 scheme route for the corporate debtor in the instant case, even beyond what is recommended in the IBBI regulation to 2B of IBBI (Liquidation Regulations) 2016".

"However, the efforts have not yielded any positive results for the revival of the corporate debtor and or resolution of its insolvency," it further added.

Furthermore, in the petition, it is mentioned that the scheme "does not contain any assurance/binding letter of support from Central Government to meet the liabilities of workers and employees".

Both the mills of the Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd (HPC), will be liquidated and sold, if the government fails to submit a revival plan.  The hearing that was previously scheduled on September 14 was postponed to September 21.

Recently, the president of the Joint Action Committee of Recognised Unions (JACRU) of the two paper mills in Assam, Manabendra Chakraborty, was quoted saying in a report of The Sentinel, "Over two lakh people are dependent on the industries for their livelihood. Their future will be in jeopardy if the government does not come up with an initiative to save the mills".

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in New Delhi in May 2019 ordered liquidation of the two paper mills under Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited in Assam.

Cachar Paper Mill and Nagaon Paper Mill have been non-functional since October 2015 and March 2017 respectively and the workers have not received their salaries for more than two years.