Court issues warrant against 5 Cadbury directors

A local court has issued bailable warrants against five directors of Cadbury India Ltd on a complaint of alleged criminal breach of trust filed by a Delhi-based businessman for failing to honour a five-year agreement between his company and the chocolate major for manufacture of ice creams.

Magistrate J B Pankhe issued bailable warrants of Rs 5,000, on Friday, against MI Apte, M H Mody, C Y Pal, N V Iyer and N S Talwar, the directors of Cadbury India Ltd under Section 406 of IPC and asked them to appear before him by October 10.

A Cadbury official said that he was not aware of any such warrants issued by the court.

The complainant Pawan Chopra, owner of Skipper Foods Pvt Ltd, a New Delhi-based food products company, said his firm had entered into an agreement in August 1991 to manufacture ice-creams for Cadbury under the brand name, Dollops. Chopra also got licences to sell the product in five states and paid a one-time franchise fee of Rs 22 lakh.

Chopra stated that his company was given the licence for five years by Cadbury commencing on March 1992. The complainant alleged that sometime during August 1993, Brooke Bond India entered into a similar agreement with Cadbury which violated the agreement between the latter and his company.

Chopra said that Cadbury should have returned the franchise fee of Rs 22 lakh to him after the "accused or its successors thought it fit to give away the franchise rights to some other company."

He alleged that Cadbury, however, failed to return the amount despite sending several letters.

Chopra then filed a case of criminal breach of trust with the Bandra court in 1997 following which the crime branch of Mumbai police was asked to investigate into the matter. The police, however in its report made in 2003, said the matter was of civil nature.

The court then issued summons against the directors of the company in the same year, which was challenged by the latter through a writ petition before the Bombay High Court.