Birla-Lodha case: The Calcutta High Court removed Harsh Vardhan Lodha from all MP Birla Group offices
Calcutta:
The Calcutta High Court on Friday barred Harsh Vardhan Lodha from holding any position in any of the MP Birla Group entities during the processing of a lawsuit on the succession of the MP Birla Estate.
The higher court, in a ruling on the administration of the inheritance by a committee appointed by the court by a majority decision, also prevented the Lodha from obtaining any personal benefit from the estate assets of Priyamvada Devi, the late wife of MP Birla. , during the processing of the Testamentary Claim on the assets of the MP Birla group.
It prevented the Lodhas from interfering with the decisions of the court-appointed administrative committee Pendente Lite (APL) and any decision that may be made in the future by majority, whether it relates directly or indirectly to the deceased’s estate.
APL is a panel formed awaiting any lawsuit that touches the validity of the will of a person who has died. By revoking any succession or grant of letters of administration, the court may appoint an administrator of the estate.
“Harsh Vardhan Lodha may not hold any position in any of the MP Birla Group entities during the processing of the claim,” the court ordered.
Judge Shahidullah Munshi also prevented the defendants in the matter from Birla’s side by means of a temporary injunction order from interfering with the APL’s majority decision during the processing of the lawsuit.
The court is also hearing a request for succession from Harsh Vardhan Lodha, whose late father RS Lodha had claimed that Priyamvada Devi Birla bequeathed his estate, which comprises the MP Birla Group, to him through a will.
The Birlas, one of the oldest industrial groups in the country, have contested the RS Lodha family’s request for succession and have been involved in a legal battle for control of MP Birla’s property since the death of Priyamvada Devi Birla in 2004. .
Judge Munshi ordered the Lodhas to implement the decisions dated July 19, 2019 and July 30, 2019 of the court-appointed APL Committee taken by majority on the direction of Universal Cable and Birla Cable, as well as all consequential decisions. of APL in compliance with said decisions.
The court said that the APL Committee is in its power to request all entities that were under the control of Priyamvada Devi Birla to exercise their right to vote with respect to their investment in the capital stock of any of the companies that were under the control of PDB, in the manner considered by the APL as beneficial for the interests of the Estate.
“Now these entities would exercise the voting rights derived from their investment in the companies controlled by Priyamvada Devi Birla in the manner guided by the APL Committee,” said Judge Munshi.
Welcoming the judgment, Birlas’s attorney, NG Khaitan of Khaitan and Company, said: “This is a pioneering judgment that was necessary for the protection and preservation of property.”
Debanjan Mandal, a partner at Fox and Mandal, defenders of the Lodha, said his clients will challenge the sentence in the appeals court for “immediate and long-term relief.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated channel.)
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