Keventer group firm bought Electoral Bonds nearly 100 times its annual profit
Three firms among the top fifteen donors of electoral bonds, which have been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, share the same registered address in West Bengal. These firms, namely Keventer Foodpark Infra Pvt Ltd, Madanlal Ltd, and MKJ Enterprises Ltd, are all part of the Keventer group of companies.
Combined, these three firms have made donations exceeding Rs 500 crore through electoral bonds, with Keventer Foodpark Infra Pvt Ltd emerging as the highest donor at Rs 195 crore. Notably, Madanlal Ltd contributed Rs 185.5 crore to political parties during the financial year 2019-20, despite reporting a pre-tax profit of only Rs 1.84 crore.
Headquartered in Kolkata, the Keventer group is renowned for its dairy, fresh, and packaged food products. A key aspect of the revelation is that all three firms share a common director, Radhe Shyam Khetan, who also serves as the CEO of Keventer Realty, the real estate arm of the Keventer group.
Notably, the West Bengal government's divestment of its 47% share in Metro Dairy to Keventer Agro, a subsidiary of the Keventer group, in 2017 sparked controversy. This move was followed by the subsequent sale of around 15% of the shares to a Singapore-based private equity firm at a significantly higher price.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had then filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Calcutta High Court in 2018, alleging that the state government undervalued Metro Dairy during the divestment process, resulting in substantial losses. He estimated the losses to be at least Rs 500 crore and demanded a thorough investigation into the matter.
Following Chowdhury's PIL, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiated a preliminary enquiry in the same year. Subsequently, the Keventer group commenced its political donations through electoral bonds in April 2019. In March 2021, the ED reportedly conducted raids on premises associated with the Keventer group, as per media reports.
Despite the legal challenges and controversies, the Supreme Court upheld the decision regarding the disinvestment of shares in September 2022, dismissing an appeal filed by Chowdhury challenging the High Court's ruling.
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11 more bodies retrieved from Arunachal accident site
Itanagar (PTI): Eleven more bodies were retrieved on Saturday from the deep gorge in Arunachal Pradesh's Anjaw district, where a mini-truck on which 22 labourers from Assam were travelling fell, an official said.
With this, 17 bodies have been recovered from the accident site, Anjaw's deputy commissioner Milo Kojin said.
He said three more bodies will be brought out on Sunday.
The operation, being conducted by a joint team of the NDRF and Army, resumed at 6 am.
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"The retrieval process was extremely difficult because of the treacherous terrain, and the gorge is very deep," Kojin said.
The operation was suspended around 4 pm due to low visibility and will be resumed on Sunday morning, he said.
"One person is still missing, and a search operation will be carried out tomorrow," he added.
The accident happened on the evening of December 8, around 40 km from Hayuliang towards Chaglagam in the district. On the evening of December 10, one survivor managed to climb out of the gorge and reach a nearby Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) labour camp, following which the authorities were alerted.
Six bodies were recovered from the gorge on Friday and handed over to their families on Saturday.
