Thursday, December 23 2004 16:21 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: Rajendra Lodha, engaged in a legal battle with Birlas for the control of M P Birla group, earned a crucial reprieve when the Calcutta High Court today (Dec 23, 2004) directed a lower court not to take action in a criminal matter against him till the matter was heard by it on Jan 11, 2004.

Justice P N Sinha, who had been assigned the matter after another judge expressed his unwillingness to hear it, passed the order as the matter came up for hearing.

The lower court is directed not to take any action when the matter comes before it for hearing on the next date, the judge said in his order.

Birlas have earlier filed a criminal case against Lodha and three others at the SDJM, Alipur, alleging that they had committed a fraud on Priyamvada Birla, who by her purported Will had bequeathed the entire assets to him.

The matter was fixed for hearing on January 8.

Lodha's associate S N Prasad, however, had moved the High Court for quashing of criminal proceedings against him, Lodha, Gauri Shankar and S K Daga before lower court.

The matter had been originally assigned to Justice D P Sengupta but in his absence it was first heard by Justice S P Mitra on December 8 when he stayed the proceedings before the SDJM court till December 16.

Subsequently Justice Sengupta heard the matter for three days but after that expressed his unwillingness to further hear the matter citing 'compelling circumstances' without giving further details.

The three days of hearing witnessed bitter exchanges between counsels from both sides with noted criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani along with S K Kapur arguing for Birlas and Pradip Ghosh and Joymalya Bagchi for Lodhas.

The criminal case before SJDM had been filed by Rajinder Prasad Pansari on behalf of Birlas.

Birlas and Lodha are already engaged in civil suits disputing the authenticity of different wills of M P Birla and his widow Priyamvada Birla, who died on July 3 this year which sparked off the battle for the control of M P Birla group assets estimated at more than Rs 5000 crores.

Lodha, a chartered accountant of the M P Birla group but now its chairman, had claimed that Priyamvada Birla had bequeathed the entire assets to him by a purported will made in 1999.

Birlas, however, claim that the entire assets should go to the charities as per a joint will by M P Birla and Priyamvada Birla made in 1982.