Camp
Birla is preparing to launch an all-out attack to regain control
of Fort M.P. Birla. And the defenders in Camp Lodha are not sitting
idle.
The Birlas, who had filed a series of caveats
in the Calcutta High Court to prevent R.S. Lodha from obtaining
ex-parte probate of Priyamvada Birla's will, may actually end up
repenting at leisure for what they'd done in haste. Fox & Mandal,
the 108-year-old law firm representing Lodha, has challenged the
locus standi of K.K. Birla to file a caveat. A lawyer explains that
only persons who would have inherited the estate in the normal course-if
there had been no will-can file caveats.
"They're just testing the waters,"
says an individual watching the happenings in Camp Lodha. "If
the court sets aside K.K. Birla's caveat, they could try the same
line of attack with the other caveators." Only the caveats
filed by M.P. Birla's sisters, Laxmi Devi Newar and Radha Mohta,
are on firm ground. The others, including the one filed by Yashovardhan
Birla, would seem to be in a grey area legally.
By challenging these caveats, Lodha hopes to
kill two birds with one stone. Since the testamentary suit cannot
proceed till the line-up of defendants is properly defined, he gains
crucial time to consolidate his grip over Priyamvada Birla's estate
(as executor of Birla's will, he will remain in command unless otherwise
ordered by the court; and the court is unlikely to pass any orders
while the locus standi of his opponents is under question). Secondly,
he's hoping that by eliminating the Birla males from the line-up
of his opponents, he can turn the proceedings into a straight fight
between himself and M.P. Birla's sisters.
A bureaucrat, who worked
closely with Lodha during his term as director of Oriental Insurance
Company, says: "He's one of the smartest cookies in the pack.
He knows exactly when to bow down, when to strike back, when to
smile and when to glare. The Birlas have committed a blunder by
allowing him an opening like this."
The Birlas, meanwhile, are also priming their
gunpowder. They've retained a battery of heavyweight lawyers. Led
by the redoubtable N.G. Khaitan of Khaitan & Co, Team Birla
includes Ram Jethmalani, Fali Nariman, Arun Jaitley, K.K. Venugopal,
Harish Salve, Kirit Rawal, Abhishek Singhvi and Siddharta Shankar
Ray. Interestingly, several of them are known as much for their
legal acumen as for their political standing.
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LAWYERS'
DAY OUT: N.G. Khaitan (left) represents the Birlas
who have also hired heavyweights such as Fali Nariman and Harish
Salve. Debanjan Mondal represents Lodha |
Then, this is not just a legal battle. And the
Birlas are clearly prepared to take the battle into the political
arena. That much became apparent when they roped in the Swadeshi
Jagran manch's S. Gurumurthy. K.K. Birla and his grand nephew Kumar
Mangalam, are working their connections. The Birlas have already
met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram
and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
To return to the legal arena, Camp Birla has
already fired a salvo across Lodha's bows. Two of the witnesses
to the will have reportedly said Birla had not signed the document
in their presence, that they affixed their signatures as witnesses
on a signed will brought to them.
And finally, the family is expected to produce
an old will signed by M.P. Birla himself in which he gives his wife
a life interest in his estate and clearly expresses his desire to
use his assets for charity. "He signed internal documents with
the Sanskrit couplet Twadiyang vastu Govinda tubhyameva samarpaye
(From God we receive, to God we offer). Isn't it natural for such
a person to want to leave his estate for charity?" a person
close to the family says. "And that is what the Birlas are
determined to ensure."
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HAPPIER
DAYS: (Clockwise from left) M.P. and Priyamvada Birla;
Priyamvada with a just-born Aditya Vikram Birla; Priyamvada
with Nandini Nopany |
The Birlas have time and again stated that this
isn't about money. "The family is very upset over the breach
of trust," says the same friend of the family. Still, questions
remain over the management control of M.P. Birla group companies
if the Birlas do manage to stop Lodha. Beyond a few vague statements
Camp Birla hasn't said much.
The credibility of the plan would depend crucially
on the identities of the family members who will be involved in
running M.P. Birla's companies. It is no secret that some branches
of the family aren't doing too well, and, so control of all or even
part of the M.P. Birla group would come as a lifeline for them.
Coincidentally, the branches which are closest to M.P. Birla in
terms of bloodline are also the ones facing the most difficult times.
But we'll have the answers to these and several
other questions only after the judicial review is over. That will
take time. Already, one judge who was scheduled to hear the matter
has recused himself from it as he had represented the Birlas during
his career on the bar. Meanwhile, both sides will try to extract
every ounce of advantage from even the most trivial of things.
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