Mumbai, Oct 27 :    Mumbai, Oct 27:  Fearing what it calls a backdoor takeover, the Onkar Singh Kanwar-owned Apollo Tyres has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court to set aside a special court judgement that allows a custodian to sell a block of tainted shares placed with it as part of a probe into the 1992 securities scam. In what is emerging as the second battle for control, the threat comes in the form of an unknown raider. Kanwar had wrested the company after a four-year boardroom battle from his father and promoter, Raunaq Singh, in the mid-nineties. This time around, the challenge is different. The shares that Harshad Mehta accumulated between 1992 and 1993 are now with a court-appointed custodian. The promoters are worried that an outsider who buys these shares will virtually emerge the biggest shareholder, and, therefore, win control. The management's anxieties are heightened by the fact that Kanwar holds less than 26 per cent in his company. Corporate observers say the outcome of the appeal, when it comes up for hearing on November 6, could prove to be a turning point in Kanwar's efforts to retain control. The management argues that no bidder or buyer willing to pick up 25 to 30 per cent - the company claims the shares with the custodian add up to that figure - will do so unless he wants control. However, the claim that 3.63 crore shares are lying with it is disputed by the custodian. Sources in the custodian's office say it is holding no more than 17 per cent of Apollo Tyres' Rs 38.8-crore equity. 'The possibility of an overlap in the shares claimed by the notified parties cannot be ruled out,' sources said. However, there is no denying the fact that the control can tilt in favour of the party which acquires the shares from the custodian. Apollo Tyres argues in its appeal that the 'attached shares have been acquired illegally'. It says the shares claimed by the notified parties not only include the those registered in their names, but also a large number of Benami ones, apart from those which have been acquired illegal, or are still unregistered. The company says the entire lot should not be sold in a lot because doing so would depress the price of the share in the market. The special court order which says the shares should be sold as a single block opens up opportunities for a takeover.