HC asks Mardia to file counter claim against ICICI Bank

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has directed the Ahmedabad-based Mardia Chemicals (MCL) to file a counter claim against ICICI Bank in the debt recovery tribunal (DRT) in Mumbai within four weeks.

In its order dated 26 February 2003, the court has also given a verdict favouring continuation of the case filed by MCL against ICICI Bank CEO and MD K V Kamath and joint managing director Lalita Gupte at the city civil court, Ahmedabad.

MCL had challenged the city civil court's verdict of 24 January 2003 to transfer the case against ICICI Bank, its Kamath and Gupte filed by MCL to the DRT in the Gujarat HC as the matter was out of the city civil court jurisdiction.

Prior to that, MCL had filed a civil suit for Rs 563 crore before the city civil court against ICICI Bank, its CEO and joint MD. On their part, Kamath and Gupte had made an application to discharge them personally, which had been disallowed by the court.

A Rs 1,000-crore company, MCL, the flagship company of the Mardia group, commenced operations in 1987 as a public limited company to manufacture dyes and dyes intermediates. The group, which has integrated facilities for manufacturing a range of products from dyes, dye intermediates, basic chemicals, caustic soda and SSP is, however, neck deep in debt and owes over Rs 700 crore to financial institutions.