M.P. Birla

July 30, 1990: M.P. Birla dies

August, 1990: Priyamvada Birla takes over as chairperson of M.P. Birla Group after the mourning period is over

R.S. Lodha

1994: R.S. Lodha joins the board of Birla Corporation

1994: M.P. Birla's trusted aide and MD of Birla Corp J.R. Birla dies

2001: R.S. Lodha appointed co-chairman of Birla Corp, starts taking active interest in company's affairs

2002: Priyamvada Birla discontinues practice of meeting senior group executives. R.S. Lodha becomes the pointsman for all future interactions between Priyamvada Birla and group executives

June 25, 2004: Priyamvada Birla's last meeting with her brothers-in-law at her residence

Priyamwada Birla

June 28, 2004: Priyamvada Birla suffers heart attack and is admitted to Belle Vue Clinic, Kolkata, where she slips into coma

July 1, 2004: G.P.-C.K. Birla Group take over management control of Indian Smelting & Refining Company Ltd in which they have a 60 per cent stake from the M.P. Birla Group which had management control till then

July 3, 2004: Priyamvada Birla dies. Last rites performed near Kolkata's Kalighat temple by Yashovardhan Birla. All Birla family members attend

July 12, 2004: R.S. Lodha goes to Birla Park, reads out Priyamvada Birla's last will and testament, to among others K.K. Birla, S.K. Birla, G.P. Birla, B.K. Birla, C.K. Birla, Yashovardhan Birla and Nandini Nopany, and leaves

N. G. Khaitan

July 13, 2004: Birlas close ranks and decide to contest the will

July 14, 2004: Khaitan & Co, solicitors representing the entire Birla family, fires the first salvo, issuing a notice to R.S. Lodha asking him to furnish a copy of the will. Khaitan & Co files caveats on behalf of K.K. Birla and M.P. Birla's two sisters, Lakshmi Devi Newar and Radha Mohta to prevent R.S. Lodha from probating the will without notice to them.

July 15, 2004: End of mourning period. R.S. Lodha, accompanied by son Harsh, attends the function held in Birla Park to mark the occasion. Rumours surface of R.P. Goenka being roped in as a mediator in the Birla-Lodha dispute. Sanjiv Goenka denies the rumours. S.K. Birla also denies the rumours. Story of a second will, reportedly made by M.P. Birla, giving his widow only life interest in his estate, surfaces. Birlas issue a statement saying they don't want a rupee of Priyamvada Birla's assets and are interested in securing her estate for charity.

Yashovardhan Birla

July 16, 2004: Yashovardhan Birla files caveat in Calcutta High Court.

July 19, 2004: R.S. Lodha files an application seeking probate of Priyamvada Birla's will.

July 20, 2004: Two witnesses to the will, P.L. Agarwal and Dr Madan Vaidya, recant, claiming that they weren't witnesses to Priyamvada Birla affixing her signature to the document. Birla Corp board meeting is held at a five-star hotel in Kolkata. It is R.S. Lodha's first public appearance since the controversy broke. It also brings him face to face with Nandini Nopany, daughter of K.K. Birla, who also sits on the board. Despite expectations of fireworks, the meeting, with Lodha in the chair, is a business as usual affair. First of several versions of the will surfaces in the media.

July 21, 2004: Other versions of the will are published in various newspapers.

July 22, 2004: Corporate trouble-shooter Gurumurthy wades into the battle on the Birla side.

July 23, 2004: Fox & Mandal, R.S. Lodha's solicitors, files a petition against K.K. Birla claiming that he has no locus standi in the case and that the caveat filed by him is meant to harass his client. Court issues notice to the Birlas on Lodha's probate application asking them to file their objections within eight days.

July 23, 2004: Khaitan & Co gets to inspect the will for the first time, raises objections about absence of some crucial documents.

July 26, 2004: Matter (GA 2721 of 2004) comes up for hearing before Justice Shubhro Kamal Mukherjee, who declines to hear the matter and releases it from his list on the grounds that he had represented the Birlas during his career at the bar