Ready To Probe WB Gov's Sale Of 47 Percent Stake In Metro Diary: CBI Informs Calcutta High Court

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday that it is ready to take over the probe of the Metro Diary scam pursuant to the permission of the High Court. The Court was adjudicating upon a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) moved by West Bengal Congress President Adhir Chowdhury alleging a lack of transparency in West Bengal government's sale of its 47 percent stake in Metro Diary to private diary organisation Keventer Agro Ltd in 2017. In the same year, one Singapore-based company had reportedly bought Metro Dairy's 15 per cent share at a much higher price. 

CBI counsel Anirban Mitra informed the division bench of Chief justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice I. P. Mukerji that both the CBI as well as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are ready to take up the probe and hence they do not wish to submit any counter-affidavit. Accordingly, the Bench recorded in its order, 

"Learned counsel for the respondent Nos.14 and 15 has submitted that no affidavit-in-opposition on behalf of the said respondents is required as the said respondents have no objection, if ultimately this Court reaches to the conclusion that the matter is required to be investigated by the CBI."

The Court accordingly listed the matter for further hearing on December 16 and directed the concerned parties to exchange relevant pleadings in the meantime. 

Metro Dairy was established in 1991 as a public-private venture. The state-run West Bengal Milk Producers Federation had 47 percent stake, the Centre-run National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) had 10 percent and the remaining 43 percent was owned by Keventer Agro Ltd. NDDB had later sold its entire stake to Keventer.

In 2017, the West Bengal government had reportedly approved the sale of its 47 percent stake to Keventer in an auction for Rs 85 crore. However, in the same year, a Singapore-based company had reportedly bought Metro Dairy's 15 percent share for a much higher price i.e.  Rs 135 crore.

Consequently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had reportedly started an investigation in 2019 and had summoned officials of Keventer Agro Ltd, the project's sole private partner at the time of the sale and other government officials for questioning. 

Chowdhury had alleged in his petition that the government, which set up the company with public money had suffered a loss of at least Rs 500 crore by selling its stake in Metro Diary to Keventer at a very low price. Accordingly, he had contended that a CBI probe must be initiated into the alleged scam. 

Case Title: Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury v. State of West Bengal 

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