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Dunlop employee's suicide sparks unrest; Bengal govt urges Centre to act against Manu Chabbria

Arup Chanda in Calcutta

The West Bengal government has urged that the central government to arrest businessman Manu Chhabria, chairman Dunlop India, in the case of Dunlop employee Prasenjit Sarkar's March 12 suicide.

Dunlop India workers have not been paid their wages since the company shut down its unit at Sahagunj, in the suburbs of Calcutta, in February 1998.

Sarkar was an operator in the motor cover department. He is survived by his wife and two daughters, one of whom is suffering from blood cancer. Unable to afford expensive treatment for her, and being without wages for the last year, Sarkar hung himself on March 12.

The news sparked a furore in political and trade union circles. The ruling Marxists came under attack for dilly-dallying on the takeover of the Dunlop unit.

But the West Bengal government passed the buck on to the Centre.

Said WB Finance Minister Dr Asim Dasgupta, "It is extremely unfortunate. The central government should immediately arrest Manu Chhabria. He had violated many corporate and financial laws earlier, but why did not the Centre arrest him?"

"Since last year the West Bengal government had submitted before the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction a proposal to take over Dunlop India. The West Bengal government was willing to take responsibility, but the Centre did not take any step," Dr Dasgupta said.

Chhabria had created a stir in corporate circles when he took over Shaw Wallace and Dunlop India in the mid-eighties. A few years after the takeovers, he fell out with his brother, Kishore, over the ownership of Shaw Wallace. The dispute led to a long legal battle.

Chhabria, who grew up in Bombay, started his career in Dubai as a distributor of Sony products.

After the Enforcement Directorate raided his home and offices in 1996 on charges of violating the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, he did not visit India again.

After Chhabria ordered the closure of the Dunlop factory last year, trade unions urged the West Bengal government to take over the company and save the workers from being unemployed.

Last April, during a meeting with the Dunlop workers union, West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu said the government was contemplating a takeover of the Sahagunj unit. Basu said his government would run it for a year during which it would search for a buyer in Chhabria's place.

The BIFR referred the Dunlop case to the Appellate Authority of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction.

Last week, the AIFR ordered the setting up of a panel to examine how the Dunlop factory could be reopened. The committee will explore the possibility of selling off some of the company's assets, and try to mop up around Rs 10 million needed to revive the Sahagunj unit.

While demanding Chhabria's arrest, Dr Dasgupta mentioned that the Dunlop management had taken a huge loan from a nationalised bank which it had not repaid. The bank had obtained an interim court order under which Chhabria could not sell off Dunlop property.

The minister said the state government was in search of a buyer for the factory. "But since the central government is not helping the state, difficulties are arising," he added.

However, state BJP president, Tapan Sikdar, MP, has accused Dr Dasgupta of uttering "untruths". He sought details of the Centre's non-co-operation. "Did Dasgupta write to the Centre to arrest Chhabria? If he gives me copies of letters and documents, I will also raise such a demand."

While politicians trade charges over the Dunlop case, Prasenjit Sarkar's suicide has enraged the trade unions.

Mrinal Das, secretary of the Centre for Indian Trade Unions, which is affiliated to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, said, "The incident is alarming and the management cannot fight shy of its responsibility."

Pramatesh Sen, vice-president of the Indian National Trade Union Congress, which is affiliated to the Congress, remarked, "The situation in the Chhabria group of companies is volatile."

Independent corporate observers point out that the politicians and trade unions err in demanding Chhabria's arrest. No action, they say, can be take against Chhabria as long as lives in Dubai. There is no extradition treaty between the United Arab Emirates and India.

"By demanding Chhabria's arrest, they are playing to the gallery of millions of workers in West Bengal and trying to hide the real issues," a source at Dunlop said.

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West Bengal