NEW DELHI : The Ministry of Corporate Affairs moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court’s approval to amalgamation of Sesa Goa Ltd and Sterlite Industries Ltd, alleging that the merger was a designed to “evade” taxes.
Sesa Goa and Sterlite Industries had merged to form Sesa Sterlite Ltd in August following the Bombay High Court’s approval to the same. The corporate affairs ministry has challenged the Bombay High Court’s approval saying the amalgamation scheme intended to avoid payment of huge
amount of taxes.
The Supreme Court said it will hear the case on Thursday, as the income tax department’s petition on the issue is also scheduled to be heard on the day.
The income tax department had earlier moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court’s decision to not allow the department to be a party to the case for approval to amalgamation.
The counsel for Sesa Sterlite opposed the petition of the corporate affairs ministry saying the merger had been finalised in August last year, and the merged entity, Sesa Sterlite Ltd, has been trading on the bourses since then. So, the merger could not be reversed.
The counsel for the company said the petition has been filed with much Delay. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs was attending all the hearings and was aware of the facts and could have raised objections to the merger earlier if they had agreed with the income tax department “that the scheme is a colourable device for tax evasion”.
The National Stock Exchange and BSE had approved listing of Sesa Sterlite, replacing Sesa Goa and Sterlite Industries, on Aug 30. Shares of Sesa Sterlite ended down 1.2% at 289.05 rupees on the National Stock Exchange. -Cogencis
