The business rescue practitioners (BRPs) of Optimum Coal scored a High Court win over a Gupta bid to delay a creditors meeting that is aimed at pushing through a debt-to-equity takeover of the business.

The directors of the Gupta-owned Tegeta Exploration and Resources – led by Ronica Ragavan – failed to convince the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) that it is they who ought to vote on a rescue plan for Optimum Coal Terminal (OCT) and not the BRPs.

And, so too that a business rescue plan for Tegeta, the company that owns the Optimum assets, should be in place before the OCT vote can happen, reports the Daily Maverick.

The ruling, handed down by Judge Margaret Victor yesterday, impacts NPA efforts to preserve Optimum ahead of forfeiture applications under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

This is because the order discharges an interim interdict the Tegeta directors obtained in November 2021 that has thus far prevented the BRPs from convening a section 151 creditors meeting.

In handing down her ruling, Victor was critical of the Gupta team’s introduction of a six-page letter that the State Attorney allegedly gave attorneys for the Tegeta directors.

Apart from the fact that the letter was not accompanied by a confirmatory affidavit from the author, it relates to the NPA’s own battles with the BRPs in terms of the preservation case.

The NPA matter, the court found, does not come into play in this particular case.

The letter, attached to the court papers, detailed fairly rigid timelines for the undertaking the NPA allegedly seeks from the BRPs.

It states that the NPA will launch an urgent interim preservation application within 48 hours of a ruling in the case – this is in the event the BRPs refuse to provide an undertaking that they would suspend the execution of the Optimum business rescue plan until such time as the NPA’s preservation case is dealt with, states the DM report.

Full Daily Maverick report