Kolkata, July 27 (IANS) The annual general meeting (AGM) of Birla Corp held here Monday was adjourned to Aug 24, a company release stated.
“The annual general meeting of Birla Corporation Limited, held today, the 27th July 2009, in Kolkata, was adjourned without considering any of the items on the agenda, to be reconvened on 24th August 2009. The adjournment motion was passed by the shareholders present by majority,” the statement said.

“Rameshwara Jute Mills Ltd., managed by the B.K. Birla Group, having only 280 shares (0.0003 percent) in the company, had filed an application before the CLB, demanding, inter alia, freeze on the voting rights of the promoter group’s shareholding in Birla Corporation Ltd,” the release added.

Earlier in the day, the meeting saw high drama over who would chair the event in the backdrop of multiple legal petitions including one in the Supreme Court.

Finally, the shareholders passed a resolution proposing director Pracheta Majumdar to chair the AGM.

But when Majumdar adjourned the AGM till Aug 24, the shareholders sought a vote on the matter.

Vikram Swarup, a director, told shareholders that the Company Law Board (CLB) had said July 22 that certain steps had to be taken while conducting the AGM.

An appeal was made to the Calcutta High Court and a special leave petition (SLP) was filed with the Supreme Court.

“The SLP was heard today and the Supreme Court has directed that the appeal against the CLB order should be heard at the high court tomorrow morning. In the light of the above, the meeting is adjourned,” Swarup added.

The CLB had recently prevented Harsh Vardhan Lodha, son of the late chairman R.S. Lodha, from chairing the AGM, following which he sought a stay from the country’s apex court.

R.S. Lodha was the disputed beneficiary of the M.P. Birla group chairperson Priyamvada Birla’s will that bequeathed the entire assets of the group to him.

The Supreme Court Monday refused to offer relief to Harsh Vardhan Lodha. It also directed the Calcutta High Court to hear petitions by the Lodha and Birla camps Tuesday.

“The very order of the CLB, according to the legal opinion given to us is not in the interest of the company and is not maintainable and that is why we went to the High Court first and then to the Supreme Court,” said Harsh Vardhan Lodha.

“It directed the high court to hear it (the petition) 10.30 a.m. tomorrow (Tuesday),” Lodha told reporters on the sidelines of the AGM.