A Calcutta High Court division bench on Monday ordered status quo on an earlier order by a single judge that had set aside the disinvestment of Jessop & Co Ltd by the Union government.After hearing four separate applications against the March 28 order of Justice Kalyanjyoti Sengupta, a division bench of Chief Justice A.K. Mathur and Justice Jayanta Kumar Biswas has set June 17 as the next hearing.Justice Sengupta had set aside the sale of the public sector heavy engineering major, terming the process non-transparent and “not in accordance with law”. It had also directed the BIFR to file a fresh revival scheme and even identify a new operating agency if required.However, he had also rejected the Jessop & Co Staff Association’s contention that Jessop is of strategic importance and hence the government should not be allowed to sell it. The Jessop & Co Staff Association had been first off the block to file an application for an appeal, followed by the three other parties — Ruia Cotex (which had bought Jessop for Rs 18.18 crore), Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam Ltd or BBUNL (the holding company for Jessop), and the Union of India.
