Bajajs to await court verdict

The Bajaj family, led by Bajaj Auto Chairman Rahul Bajaj, has hardened its stance against estranged brother Shishir Bajaj, saying they will not negotiate on the family settlement that has been pending for the last five years and instead wait for the court's verdict.

In a meeting held in Pune today, the four Bajaj brothers, Rahul and his cousins"" Madhur, Niraj and Shekhar"" decided that as Shishir and his son, Kushagra have not appreciated the MoU signed between both the parties they do not have any alternative but to wait for the court's verdict.

The MoU, based on the separation formula of the family confidante S Gurumurthy, suggested that the Shishir faction would get two companies Bajaj Hindustan and Bajaj Consumer Care while the remaining companies would go to the Rahul faction.The Rahul faction was also supposed to pay net compensation of nearly Rs 175 crore to the Shishir faction.

The Bajajs have moved the Bombay High Court in December 2006 against Shishir for going back on the agreement and sought damages to the tune of Rs 600 crore. Shishir had moved the Company Law Board (CLB) in 2003 against the Bajaj brothers seeking his shares in the group's assets.

"We cannot be forced to buy or sell any shares. We control 80 per cent of all the group holding companies and let them do what they want," a member close to the Rahul faction said.

"They must appreciate that Rahul Bajaj wanted to give them control of Bajaj Hindustan and Bajaj Consumer Care. Instead, they made all kinds of allegations against us to get sympathy," said he.

"There are written agreements and we have a strong case against them. Let the courts decide and we will wait for its verdict," family sources said. "There are no mediators this time and no negotiations," they added.