Patna High Court - Orders
Rohtas Industries Ltd. (In ... vs Official Liquidator on 1 May, 2025
Author: Harish Kumar
Bench: Harish Kumar
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
COMPANY PETITION No.3 of 1984
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ROHTAS INDUSTRIES LTD. (IN LIQUIDATION)
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Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Official Liquidator
Mr. Gautam Kejriwal, Adv.
For the Purchaser : Mr. P C Agrawal, Adv.
Mr. Aditya Raman, Adv.
For the Union of India : Mr. Alok Kumar, CGC
For the Bank : Mr. Mrityunjay Kumar, Adv.
For the State : Mr. Ajit Kumar, GA-9
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE HARISH KUMAR
ORAL ORDER
639 01-05-2025Item (I):- O.L.R. No.-115/2025 (Tender matter) Pursuant to the order of this Court dated 21.03.2025, while considering the OLR No. 89 of 2024 with No. 102 of 2025, this Court had approved the valuation report and drafts sale notice of five properties of the company under liquidation and directed the Official Liquidator to publish the sale notice in two daily newspaper.
2. In pursuant thereto, the sale notice in the daily newspaper, one in "Times of India" (English) and another in "Hindustan" (Hindi) for sale of freehold lands on 05 lots has been published, the details of which are as under:-
LOT Description of Property Reserve Price EMD (25% (In Rs.) of the reserve price) LOT Freehold Land 2,96,78,000/- 74,19,500/-
NO.1 admeasuring to 1.42 Acre situated at Mauza -
Darihat, Thana No. 122, Khata No.779, Plot Patna High Court COMP PET No.3 of 1984(639) dt.01-05-2025 2/12 No.1055, District -
Rohtas (Bihar) LOT Freehold Land 2,42,88,000/- 60,72,000/- NO.2 admeasuring to 1.38 Acre situated at Mauza -
Darihat, Thana No.122, Khata No.779, 787 Plot No.1156, 1155 District -
Rohtas (Bihar) LOT Freehold Land 66,57,000/- 16,64,250/- NO.3 admeasuring to 3.56 Acres situated in Mauza -
Darihat, Thana No.122, Khata No.786, 781, Plot No.3512, 3554 and 3272, District - Rohtas (Bihar) LOT Freehold Land 5,37,00,000/- 1,34,25,000/- NO.4 admeasuring to 3.46 Acres situated at Mauza -
Hurka, East side of Dehri-
Nasriganj Road, Thana No.145, R.S. Khata No.96, R.S. Plot No.465, District - Rohtas (Bihar) LOT Freehold Land 3,45,20,000/- 86,30,000/- NO.5 admeasuring to 8.63 Acres situated at Mauza -
Bhadara, Thana No.677, Khata No.316, Plot No.21, 32, 33, 35, 35/2033
3. Both the newspapers are having wide circulation in the State of Bihar and Jharkhand. The sale notice clearly suggest the reserve prices and its corresponding EMDs as well as the date for opening of the received sealed tender on 18.04.2025.
4. It has been apprised to this Court that in response to Patna High Court COMP PET No.3 of 1984(639) dt.01-05-2025 3/12 the aforesaid sale notice, 13 numbers of sealed tenders have been received only against the Lot No. 4. No tender has been received with regard to the properties mentioned at Lot No. 1, 2, 3 and 5.
5. It would be worth noting that on account of other judicial engagement of the Court, the date for opening of the received sealed tenders, which was scheduled as per sale notice on 18.04.2025 has been re-notified on 01.05.2025. Notice in this regard was duly displayed on the website of MCA as well as on the notice board of the office of the Official Liquidator and hence, the auction has been fixed for today and proceeded accordingly.
Lot No. 4
6. The auction has commenced in presence of all the bidders. Altogether 13 sealed tenders have been received to the office of the Official Liquidator and one tender of "Techno Fuel India Private Limited" has been received in the Court itself and allowed to participate after submission of the tender form and EMD, which has been duly accepted by the Official Liquidator. On permission accorded to the Official Liquidator, the seal tenders are opened with the following results:
S.N. Name of Tenderers Offer made through sealed tender Patna High Court COMP PET No.3 of 1984(639) dt.01-05-2025 4/12
1. Rana Uday Pratap Singh Rs. 5,38,00,000/-
2. Birendra Prasad Singh Rs. 5,37,11,000/-
3. Randhir Kumar Rs. 5,37,00,001/-
4. Parshuram Singh Rs. 5,39,25,000/-
(Authorised to Mr. Sidharth Kumar Khare)
5. Jai Mani Devi Rs. 5,40,30,000/-
(Authorised to Mr. Dheeraj Kr.)
6. Rinkal Kumar Singh, Rs. 5,40,00,000/-
Director, Parashakti Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd.
7. Kundan Kumar Rs. 5,37,21,000/-
8. Rakesh Kumar Singh, Rs. 6,00,00,000/-
RRK Buildinfra
9. Jai Mata Dee and Maa Rs. 5,51,00,000/-
Sita Construction
10. Priya Ranjan Kumar Rs. 5,37,31,000/-
Singh
11. Kunj Bihari Singh Rs. 5,37,10,000/-
12. Arun Kumar Gupta Rs. 5,37,51,000/-
13. Badal Kumar Rs. 5,37,50,000/-
14. Techno Fuel India Rs. 5,37,50,000/-
Private Limited (Authorised to Basant Kumar Rai)
7. The highest amount offered by way of sealed tenders is of Rs. 6 crore, which has to be treated as a base point for inter se bidding. In the 2nd round of bidding, offer reached to Rs. 6.40 crores by Arun Kumar Gupta, which is followed by Patna High Court COMP PET No.3 of 1984(639) dt.01-05-2025 5/12 Techno Fuel India Private Limited with Rs. 6.35 crores. The bid of Arun Kumar Gupta stands accepted provisionally.
8. The Official Liquidator has apprised that inadvertently the valuer has not evaluated the scrap like sewage treatment plant lying on the land, which is subject matter of Lot No. 4. On valuation, the official valuer has valued it to the tune of Rs. 6 lakhs. This offer has also been accepted by both the bidders provisionally in presence of the Court.
9. The successful bidder has directed to deposit 10 per cent of the bid amount (excluding EMD) within 15 days from today; remaining bid amount is to be deposited further within 60 days; which offer has also been accepted by the successful bidder. The amount of Rs. 6 lakh, against the valued scrap material, shall also be deposited within 60 days by the successful bidder. No sooner 10 per cent amount will be deposited by the successful auction purchaser within the period stipulated, the EMD of the second highest bidder shall be returned.
10. It is made clear that if successful auction purchaser, namely, Arun Kumar Gupta fails to comply the aforesaid direction of this Court, his EMD will be forfeited forthwith and the caption property will be offered to second highest bidder, namely, Techno Fuel India Private Limited, if he Patna High Court COMP PET No.3 of 1984(639) dt.01-05-2025 6/12 is willing to buy the said property by the price offered by him.
11. It is also directed that the Official Liquidator shall return the EMD of other bidders forthwith.
12. Accordingly, the auction sale process, with regard to the caption property, is provisionally concluded.
Lot No. 1.
13. With respect to Lot No. 1; 2 bidders, namely, Rahul Raj and Shashank Kumar have entered their appearance before this Court, through their respective learned Advocates with valid EMD and shown their willingness to participate in the auction with respect to the caption land. The Court accepted their prayer and allowed them to participate in the auction.
14. In the 2nd round of bidding, offer reached to Rs. 2,99,00,000/- by Rahul Raj, which is well above the reserve price of Rs. 2,96,78,000/-, followed by Shashank Kumar with an offer of Rs. 2,98,00,000/-. The bid of Rahul Raj stands accepted provisionally.
15. The successful bidder has been directed to deposit 10 per cent of the bid amount (excluding EMD) within 15 days from today; remaining bid amount is further directed to be deposited within 60 days, which offer has been accepted by the successful bidder. As soon as 10 per cent amount will be deposited by the successful auction purchaser, within the period Patna High Court COMP PET No.3 of 1984(639) dt.01-05-2025 7/12 stipulated, the EMD of the second highest bidder also be returned.
16. It is made clear that if successful auction purchaser, namely, Rahul Raj fails to comply the aforesaid direction of this Court, his EMD will be forfeited forthwith and the caption property will be offered to second highest bidder, namely, Shashank Kumar, if he is willing to buy the said property by the price offered by him.
17. Accordingly, auction sale process with regard to the caption property under Lot No. 1 is provisionally concluded.
Item No. (II):- OLR No. 116 of 2025
18. In pursuant to the order of this Court dated 21.03.2025, the authorities of the Railway and the Official Liquidator made a joint inspection in respect to identification of 1.17 acres of remaining land. After proper inspection, the parties agreed to have a consensus regarding a chunk of land levelled as 'B' in sketch map which is appended to OLR No. 116 of 2025 filed on behalf of the Official Liquidator. A minutes of the joint inspection held on 29.03.2025 by the Official Liquidator and the authorities of the East Central Railway has been placed on record as Annexure-'C' to the OLR No. 116 of 2025. Out of two chunks of land as has been mentioned in the joint inspection report, Railway has given a consensus for (ii) chunk of land Patna High Court COMP PET No.3 of 1984(639) dt.01-05-2025 8/12 levelled as 'B' in the sketch map. The chunk of land is adjacent to 204.14 acres of land. From this chunk of land, a piece of 1.17 acres of land has been carved out and proposed to be handed over to the East Central Railway. It has further been apprised to this Court that yet final demarcation is required to be done by the official Amin and moreover there is an encroachment over certain portion as has been informed to this Court, which is also required to be removed at the level of the concerned State officials.
19. Considering the fact that both the parties have a consensus and agreed on the proposal made by the official Liquidator, this Court directs the District Magistrate, Rohtas at Sasaram to depute any of the empanelled official Amin for demarcation of the land in question which is duly marked in the minutes of the joint inspection held on 29.03.2025 as 'B' along with the earlier identified land measuring 3.12 acres as has been marked as 'X'. It is expected that the measurement as afore noted shall be done within a period of four weeks in presence of the parties, after giving a proper notice to all the concerned stake holders.
20. The District Magistrate shall also look into the matter and take all possible steps to remove the encroachment, if found over the land, in question, in accordance with law. The Patna High Court COMP PET No.3 of 1984(639) dt.01-05-2025 9/12 land shall be handed over to the authorities of the East Central Railway henceforth.
21. Let the matter be placed after four weeks on 19.06.2025.
22. In the meantime, it is expected that the District Magistrate shall ensure the measurement and submit a report to this Court.
23. Let a copy of this order be communicated to the District Magistrate, Rohtas at Sasaram forthwith for compliance.
Item No. (III):- OLR No. 114 of 2025
24. The Official Liquidator has informed that the panel valuer has submitted a valuation report after evaluating the assets of the Company as per the following manner:
Items Value (in Rs.)
A. Furniture & other assets 31,40,200/-
(including fresh & damaged)
B. Iron Scraps 72,00,000/-
C. Water Treatment Plant 6,00,000/-
D. Vehicles (Road Roller, Four 5,53,000/-
Wheelers, Two Wheelers, Pedal
Cycle)
TOTAL 1,14,93,200/-
25. So far water treatment plant, the value of which has been determined as Rs.6,00,000/-, the same is already Patna High Court COMP PET No.3 of 1984(639) dt.01-05-2025 10/12 provisionally sold in favour of the successful bidder namely, Arun Kumar Gupta. So far the remaining scraps as mentioned in the report is concerned for which the Official Liquidator seeks permission to publish a Sale Notice in local Hindi newspaper (Hindustan) by fixing date of opening of seal tender before this Court on 26.06.2025.
26. Considering the valuation report and draft sale notice, the prayer made on behalf of the Official Liquidator is accorded. Let the same be published within one week.
27. Re-notify this case on 26.06.2025 for opening of the sealed tender.
28. OLR No. 114 of 2025 stands disposed of.
Item No. (IV):- I.A. No. 369 of 2025
29. Interlocutory Application No. 369 of 2025 has been filed on behalf of one Chandan Kumar seeking indulgence of this Court for a direction to the Official Liquidator to accept the offer of the petitioner for hiring company's land on rent to the petitioner for Mauza Panduri( Sabedla) Balughat Rohtas Sone Block-7 for the purpose of access Road of Balughat through company's land.
30. The Official Liquidator is directed to ensure filing of response to I.A. No. 369 of 2025 by the next date.
31. List this matter on 15.05.2025.
Patna High Court COMP PET No.3 of 1984(639) dt.01-05-2025 11/12 Item (VI):- O.L.R. No.- 106/2025
32. O.L.R. No. 106 of 2025 has been filed by the Official Liquidator seeking permission for making payment of advertisement cost to the Advertising Media (Hindustan Media Ventures Limited) as well as professional fees of panel valuer, namely, Er. Upendra Kishore, who has valued three properties which was put on sale, however, the sale could not be finalized till date.
33. So far the payment of advertisement cost to the Advertising Media for publishing the sale notice in one edition of Bihar and Jharkhand is concerned, the same stands approved with a direction to the Official Liquidator to must verify the bill as per the rate chart approved by this Court before making payment of the same.
34. There is certain infirmities, prima facie, appears to be found in the bill of the panel valuer, for which the Official Liquidator prays for filing a fresh O.L.R.
35. He is permitted to do so.
36. In view thereof, O.L.R. No. 106 of 2025 stands disposed off.
Item (VIII): O.L.R.- No.86/2024 with affidavit
37. In compliance with the order of this Court dated 14.02.2025, the Official Liquidator has submitted an affidavit Patna High Court COMP PET No.3 of 1984(639) dt.01-05-2025 12/12 with a categorical averment that there is no pending litigation before the Hon'ble Apex Court with regard to any of the quarter which is proposed to be put on auction, the date on which affidavit is filed. It is made clear that the valuation report of 27 numbers of different types of quarters at Dalmianagar of the company under liquidation; the reserved price collectively for all the 27 quarters have been assessed to the tune of Rs.12,72,81,500/- and corresponding E.M.D. has been fixed @ 25% of the reserved price.
38. In view of the aforesaid facts and the affidavit filed by the Official Liquidator, the valuation report along with draft sale notice be approved. The Official Liquidator is directed to publish the sale notice in one edition of an English (Times of India) and Hindi newspaper (Dainik Jagran) having wide circulation in the State of Bihar & Jharkhand. The date of opening of seal tender is fixed on 26.06.2025.
39. O.L.R. No. 86/2024 stands disposed off.
(Harish Kumar, J) Shivank/Anjani/ Rohit/-
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