The Hindu Business Line : Standard Motors' workers get dues

The Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Mr A.P. Shah, on Wednesday called upon banks to consider the "human angle" also while making their claims from the closed units. The working class suffered the most during the closures, and it took a pretty long time to settle their dues.

Judicial history

Distributing cheques to the legal heirs and the secured creditors of the Standard Motors Perungalathur factory, which was closed down in April, 1994, the Chief Justice took pride that for the first time in the judicial history of the country, the largest settlement of the Standard Motors issue could be reached through mediation efforts.

Thanks to the co-operation and support of the working class, the banks and the financial institutions and the Official Liquidator, the payments due to all concerned had been handed over.

Credit to judge

The credit should go to Mrs Justice Chitra Venkataraman, who referred the matter to the Tamil Nadu Mediation and Conciliation Centre, and also to the mediators, Mr Sriram Panchu and Mr Yadhod Vardhan.

The number of workers numbered 2,190 and in 12 years, about 250 workers died. In one case, the children of the worker were aged 1, 8 and 11 years.

On behalf of the Indian Overseas Bank, which was a creditor, its General Manager, Mr Venugopal, announced a donation of Rs 15 lakh to the Mediation Centre. He said if only the mediation centre had been constituted much earlier, much of the delay in recovering the moneys due to the banks could have been avoided.

Sale of property

The property of Standard Motors was sold for Rs 154 crore, thanks to the guidance of the Company Court, and the money was utilised to pay the dues to the banks, financial institutions and the workers. A surplus of Rs 20 crore was made out to meet the claims of other creditors.

Mr Sriram Panchu, and Mrs Justice Chitra Venkataraman also addressed the gathering.

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