IN AN interim order passed on Wednesday, Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court permitted the State Government to sell off moveable property of MP Road Transport Corporation (MPRTC) at Mhow and Vijay Nagar in Indore and deposit the sum earned in a separate bank account.
This sum would be used to settle the dues of MPRTC employees in future through a court order. The single judge HC bench of Justice N K Mody issued the order in response to an application moved by the State Government that it be allowed to dispose of MPRTC property. The State Government has taken over MPRTC, which will wind up next month.
The court has also ordered reconciliation of the sum to be given by Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to MPRTC employees. Petitioner MPRTC said it has been depositing Rs 75 lakh per month as EPF after 2003 and this way it has already deposited Rs 23 crore. However, EPF maintained that the total MPRTC dues after 2003 amount to about Rs 150 crore.
While MPRTC, through its counsel Shekhar Bhargav, claimed that amount accrued in last three years could not be more than Rs 30 crore at the most, EPF, via counsel Sanjay Sharma, stuck to its stand. Looking at the huge difference between figures projected by the two agencies, Bhargav appealed to the court that reconciliation be ordered. HC asked them to sit together and work out a final figure before the court hears them again in two months.
{{/usCountry}}While MPRTC, through its counsel Shekhar Bhargav, claimed that amount accrued in last three years could not be more than Rs 30 crore at the most, EPF, via counsel Sanjay Sharma, stuck to its stand. Looking at the huge difference between figures projected by the two agencies, Bhargav appealed to the court that reconciliation be ordered. HC asked them to sit together and work out a final figure before the court hears them again in two months.
{{/usCountry}}Additional Advocate General Ashok Kutumbale pleaded on behalf of the State Government. He told court that a committee had been constituted by Indore District Collector to look into MPRTC’s property-related issues. The moveable property, which the court ordered to sell, mostly consists of old buses and scrap.