Mumbai, April 14: An extraordinary general meeting (EGM) called by the Indian Petrochemicals Corporation (IPCL) to secure shareholders’ approval for the proposed merger with Reliance Industries (RIL) at Vadodara today turned stormy as many opposed the swap ratio, which they said went against the interests of IPCL shareholders.

The meeting, presided over by retired Justice S.D. Dave, turned noisy after angry shareholders rushed to the dais and alleged that the poll process was illegal as coercive methods were used to obtain signed proxy forms from IPCL employees who are its shareholders. Security personnel were called into the hall to maintain peace in the meeting.

Shareholders also alleged that many of them were stopped at the entrance to the hall even though they had security cards issued by the IPCL management. Workers hold around 5 per cent of IPCL’s equity.

In response to their representation, Justice Dave said they would be allowed to enter and cast their votes if they were genuine shareholders of the company.

A swap ratio of one share of RIL for every five shares of IPCL was proposed for the merger on March 10, when the boards of both the companies, RIL and IPCL, had approved the amalgamation proposal. A meeting of RIL shareholders to consider the issue is scheduled for April 21.

Sources told The Telegraph from Vadodara that IPCL shareholders, more particularly the employees, said the amalgamation was not in the interest of the minority stakeholders.