Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has asked senior shipping department officers to immediately restart the tendering process mandated by the Major Port Trust Act (MPT), 1963 at Kolkata and Haldia ports for supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance of cargo handling facilities. The Central Bureau of Investigation is probing allegations that in the absence of a tendering process, Trinamool Congress MP Srinjoy Bose's family-run stevedoring company, Ripley & Co over-charged the loading and unloading of cargo at the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) and Haldia Dock Complex (HDC). Srinjoy Bose, one of the directors of Ripley, is presently in jail in the Saradha scam case. The CBI had sent a letter to the chairman of the KoPT, asking questions regarding the alleged irregularities in the granting of stevedoring licence to Ripley on the basis of an open tender. A copy of the letter is in possession of The Sunday Guardian. CBI sources said that the agency has prepared a preliminary report on the basis of the findings to its queries.

The letter dated 20 November 2014 says, "CBI, ACB, Kolkata is enquiring into allegations pertaining to the irregularities in the matter of grant of Stevedoring Licence to M/s Ripley & Co. for the FY 2005-06 by Kolkata Port Trust and Handling Agent Licence to M/s Ripley & Co. Stevedoring & Handling Pvt. for 2006-07 by Kolkata Port Trust and their renewals in violation of section 42 & 48 of Major Port Trust Act 1963."

The Union minister has fixed Rs 120 per tonne as handling charges payable by exporters and importers to the cargo handling agencies. Of this, Rs 13 per tonne will be payable as royalty to the port authorities, a rate periodically revised and fixed by the Tariff Authority of Major Ports, as per the MPT Act. Ripley allegedly charged much more than Rs 120, causing financial hardship to shippers. Also, it allegedly did not pay any royalty to the port authorities, thereby causing a major loss to the exchequer, claimed a source.

The tendering process will provide a level playing field to all cargo handlers and neutralise Ripley's clout, the source added. The tender will be floated within a fortnight, as per the minister's direction, confirmed a senior port official.

In November 2012, a Surat based shipping company, ABG had complained that they were forced to exit Haldia port because of rival businesses and some port officials. Cargo was allegedly diverted to expensive manual berths operated by Ripley instead of the cheaper mechanised berths operated by the contractor, Haldia Bulk Terminals, a joint venture between ABG Infralogistics and French company Louis Dreyfus Armateurs.

A BJP MP from Gujarat, who is now the present Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava, had written to the then Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, during UPA 2, about the irregularities at Bengal's ports. No action had followed.

Illegal barge operations were also underway in the absence of enlistment of cargo handlers by ports, mandated under Section 42(3) or 42(3A) of the MPT Act. Under the MPT Act, it is clearly defined that "transhipment of cargo is an authorised function of the port". KoPT and HDC do not have any control over illegal barges, the operators, their staff and the frequent violent infighting that ensues for a larger share of the spoils.

The CBI is also probing the roles played in all this by Srinjoy's father, former TMC MP Swapan Sadhan (Tutu) Bose; a TMC national secretary; and a former Minister of State for Shipping in the UPA 2 government as well as several other politicians.