Hon’ble Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Hon’ble Justice Hrishikesh Roy of the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed an appeal filed by the Birlas and upheld the Calcutta High Court verdict of 22 April 2021, allowing Mr Harsh Vardhan Lodha to continue as the Chairman of all MP Birla Group companies.
“Monday’s Supreme Court verdict demolishes the charges of contempt of court brought against Mr Lodha for not stepping down as the Chairman,” said Mr Debanjan Mandal, Partner, Fox & Mandal. “The verdict vindicates our faith in the judiciary as we continue to neutralize repeated attempts to disrupt the functioning of MP Birla Group companies.” The Birlas had fielded in the Supreme Court a battery of senior advocates such as Mr Kapil Sibal, Mr P. Chidambaram, Mr K.V. Vishwanathan, Mr Janak Dwarkadas and Mr Akhil Sibal.
Mr Lodha remained Chairman of all MP Birla Group companies and chaired all Board meetings even in the face of contempt petitions filed against him and the companies he led because he was reappointed in all with a vast majority of at least 97.98% of votes cast in his favour, senior advocate Mr Darius Khambata told the Supreme Court.
Appearing for the MP Birla Group company, Vindhya Telelinks Ltd, senior advocate Mr Shyam Diwan said two of the three administrators in charge of the estate of Priyamvada Devi Birla have for the past two years constantly tried to interfere with the operations of the group companies as well as the independent trusts and societies.