The estate of late Priyamvada Devi Birla exercised its control over a minuscule block of 1,260 shares only, voting results uploaded by Birla Corporation, the flagship company of MP Birla Group, revealed.

The estate, which the Birla family argues controls the entire MP Birla empire, voted against two resolutions that pertain to the payment of commission as a percentage of net profit to non-executive and independent directors and Harsh V. Lodha, chairman of Birla Corporation, in the last annual general meeting.

The 1,260 shares represent 0.001 per cent of the outstanding shares of Birla Corp, the cement and jute producer which is under the effective control of Lodha. The voting results offer yet another twist to the more than one-and-half decade old battle for the control of the MP Birla empire between the Birlas and the Lodhas.

Manufacturing companies such as Birla Corporation, Universal Cables, Vindhya Telelinks, Birla Cables, along with trusts and charities that oversee several prominent educational and healthcare institutions, form the core of the MP Birla empire.

A committee of administrator pendente lite (APL), appointed by the high court to oversee the affairs of the estate, had casted the vote during the AGM. This tiny block of shares is at the heart of the battle between the Birla and the Lodha families that stems from late Priyamvada Devi Birla’s controversial will.

The APL committee, which was voting on the basis of a majority decision of its three members, had argued that the estate had control over the entire 62.9 per cent promoter holding of Birla Corp. The voting results, however, tell a different story.

“She (late Priyamvada) controlled BCL through several investment and holding companies. These companies did not adhere to the direction issued by the APL committee to vote according to its decision at the AGM,” N.G. Khaitan, senior partner of Khaitan & Co and counsel for the Birlas, countered.

The results of the voting on the resolutions that took place at the last AGM of Birla Corp on August 13, 2019 were uploaded last night following a division bench order of Calcutta High Court, quashing a restraint imposed by a single bench of the same court.

The division bench order also paved the way for declaring the results of the re-appointment of Harsh V. Lodha as the director on the board of two cable companies, Vindhya Telelinks and Birla Cables.

Commenting on the division bench order, a statement issued by the Birla family read: “This is a landmark move which will now put the companies also before the probate court for the first time in this one and a half decade long litigation and will accordingly put a curtain on the hide and seek game being played by Lodha and the companies of the MP Birla Group at different fora.”