Its managing director Nagin Shah, working as senior scientist at National Chemical Laboratory of India at Pune before setting up the Navsari unit to manufacture a pharmaceutical ingredient 30 years ago, alleged the inspector, before his retirement last month, asked the company staff to pay him Rs 5,000 as a `token of appreciation' for helping the company get its license renewed in the past.

When company officials told him that they were authorised to make payment up to only Rs 2,000 only and would have to take permission from their administrative office in Mumbai for amount more than that, the inspector refused to accept it, Shah said, adding that he continued to threaten them on telephone asking for money and later filed criminal cases.

The company was charged with not possessing structural stability certificate and manufacturing hazardous chemical without due permission among other things and was also accused of not providing identity cards to its workers.

According to Shah, the company wrote to the chief factories inspector at Ahmedabad asking him to visit the factory to ascertain the truth in the complaints filed against it. But neither did the CIF turn up nor his office took cognisance of the letter, Shah said, adding that a copy of the letter was also sent to the chief minister, whose office too did not respond.

Another letter was shot by the company officials to the chief minister saying ``even during the regime of Shankersinh Vaghela corruption was not so rampant and inspectors were not so bold''.

The letter noted that the company was giving Diwali Boni to inspectors of all statutory agencies, but ever since the present government had taken over their demands were rising.

Frustrated by the lack of response, another letter signed by Shah read, ``If no action is taken by you, I will instruct my executives to start paying blackmail money to all inspectors as even the Chief Minister of Gujarat is helpless to establish accountability in the Inspector Raj''.

When contacted on the telephone, Chief Inspector of Factories A V Dhimmar, who was on a day's visit to Vadodara, told Express Newsline,``I am not in a position to tell whether I received the complaint or whether any inquiry was ordered into it''.

He claimed his office received many a complaint and would be in a position to say anything on his return to Ahmedabad.

Meanwhile, the cases will come up for hearing in the Navsari court on September 24.