![]() |
BAT `Aware' Of Violations, Malcolm Fry InterrogatedNovember 15, 1996Our Bureau CALCUTTA, Nov. 14 MR. Malcolm Fry, former BAT nominee on the ITC board and
current ly Managing Director of VST Industries in Hyderabad, was today interrogated by
Enforcement Directorate officials here for almost eight hours on the alleged FERA
violations by ITC Ltd. ``Prima facie, it appears that BAT was aware of FERA
violations by the tobacco giant, '' Mr. K. K. Kabirpanthi, ED Deputy Direc tor, told
reporters during a short break in the interrogation proceedings. Mr. Fry has represented BAT in India for a little over a
year. Mr. Kabirpanthi said Mr. Fry was co-operating and at this point of time there was no
need for his further interrogation. ED sources said Mr. Fry had referred to Mr. Richard
Pilbeam as being more knowledgeable on ITC affairs. Mr. Fry, summoned by ED along with two other BAT
representatives, arrived in the morning from Mumbai and reported at the office of the
directorate around 11-30 a.m. Significantly, he is the first BAT representative called in
for questioning on the alleged FERA violations by ITC. Mr. Pilbeam, who was also initially
asked to make himself available for questioning by the ED, has now been asked to appear on
November 21. ED officials, when asked if they had the powers to arrest a
foreign national on charges of FERA violations, confirmed that the Act had such
provisions. Informed sources said Mr. Pilbeam was unlikely to attend the
crucial board meeting tomorrow, and his place may be taken by Mr. Timothy Lord, BAT's area
director for India. The alternate to Mr. Pilbeam on the ITC board is Mr. S. J. R. Smith,
who would be attending the board meeting. Mr. Tony Johnston, BAT's director in charge of
Amesca (Africa, the Middle East and Southern and Cen tral Asia, including the Indian
sub-continent), is the alternate director for Mr. Malcolm Fry, who was shifted by BAT on
September 1 to VST as MD, replacing Mr. Raj Sujan. Mr. Sujan has been moved to New Delhi as BAT's Resident
Director, India. He, however, remains the non-executive Chairman of VST Natural Products.
Mr. Lord, though posted in the UK, is consid ered the boss for BAT in India. Sources said
he would be the other BAT representative attending tomorrow's board session along with Mr.
Smith. ITC watchers opine that the single agenda for tomorrow's
board meeting may be a thorough discussion on the current crisis which has engulfed the
company. The BAT and FI nominees, it is learnt, would be listeners initially before
participating in the discus sions to work out a viable strategy for defusing the crisis in
the immediate term. Held after scuffle: Three persons belonging to a private
securi ty agency were arrested by the police from in front of the office of the ED today,
following a minor scuffle with mediapersons and photographers waiting since morning to
photograph Mr. Fry. As soon as Mr. Fry alighted from his car to enter the ED building, the
three men, who had already mingled with the group of newsper sons, jumped in front of the
lensmen to escort Mr. Fry into the building. A virtual free-for-all ensued. Later, on a plaint by a group of photographers, the three men were arrested and taken to the Taltola police station. Dressed in plain clothes, the three, reportedly belonging to a well-known private security agency in the city, were providing security for Mr. Fry, and were under instructions to maintain a low profile. A spokesperson for ITC stated that the company had no role in this as Mr. Fry was no longer on the ITC board. VST is a separate corporate entity, with a common parentin BAT with ITC. |
Attention! All information contained herein is for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended by any material on these pages. The copyrights of the whole multimedia content on these pages are belonging to their originators, authors, creators... etc. All original content is the property of it's originators. Copyrighted material has been used for non-commercial purposes only. This website is best viewed with your monitor resolution set to 800x600 and your video mode set to true color. |