Calcutta, Feb. 9: Descon has moved Calcutta High Court for an early hearing on a case that prevents the IT company from exiting power generator DPSC Ltd.

The high court had passed an interim order in 2003 barring Descon from selling its holding in DPSC to any company other than Andrew Yule.

Unless the stay is vacated by an early hearing, Descon will be unable to cash in on the open offer made by Orbis Power Venture, a special purpose vehicle led by Srei Infrastructure, in DPSC.

Orbis holds 57.17 per cent of DPSC after insurer LIC, GIC and PSU conglomerate Yule sold their combined stakes for around Rs 171 crore last month.

Descon holds 32.31 per cent in DPSC and is keen to sell the entire stake to Orbis, raking in around Rs 97 crore.

The matter was further complicated when the minority shareholders of Descon, who had filed a case against the present management with the Company Law Board last year alleging mismanagement, wrote to Orbis warning it not to deal in the DPSC shares held by Descon.

“As the matter is subjudice, you are requested not to deal with any shares of DPSC held by Descon, which is covered under the above order. You will do so at your own risk and peril,” Biman Bihari Sen, a minority shareholder,wrote to Orbis yesterday on behalf of the petitioners.

The CLB in its interim order had barred the management from selling “fixed assets”. Shares, however, will not fall in that category. However, the petitioners have sought a modification of that order to include shares.

When contacted, S. Radhakrishnan, managing director of Descon, declined to comment.

An Orbis official said the company was yet to receive any communication from the petitioner. “Anyone can write anything but it has to be validated,” he said. Orbis was keen to acquire the entire stake from Descon, the official said.

The CLB’s order may not stop Descon from going ahead with the stake sale, but it must vacate the injunction of the high court.

Sources at Descon said the high court had passed the order that tantamounts to a first right of refusal by Yule in relation to Descon’s holding in DPSC.

However, after selling its stake to Orbis, Yule is already out of the group, and there is no reason why Descon can’t sell to whoever it likes.

The origin of the case dates back to a dispute between Yule and Descon in 2001 when the IT firm declined to give a 26 per cent stake to Yule through a preferential allotment.

Yule sought that share as a compensation for renouncing a rights issue in DPSC in favour of Descon.

As Yule’s financial condition was poor, it could not subscribe to the rights issue made by DPSC.

Instead, it allowed Descon to opt for the shares after taking special permission from Sebi.

However, Descon declined to give the shares to Yule at par citing an observation by the department of company affairs saying the fair value of its shares was much higher.