Hebertsons vice-chairman Kishore Chhabria has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court against the Mumbai High Court's ruling in favour of UB chairman Vijay Mallya. "I have filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. It will take 10-15 days for the court to admit the appeal," Chhabria said. The deadline for Chhabria to move the Supreme Court was January 15.
The Mumbai High Court in September ruled in favour of the UB group in the Herbertsons case, holding that the acquisition of an additional 21 per cent shares by Chhabria from the open market was void. The court order implies that only 27.2 per cent of Chhabria's stake is now considered legal.
Herbertsons has several liquor brands, including Bagpiper which reports sales of six million cases. The company has an annual turnover of over Rs 270 crore.
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Mallya had earlier said at a press conference in September: "I wish to go on record to say that notwithstanding legal success, I am always interested in an amicable settlement with Kishore Chhabria." On being queried about a possible settlement between the two, Mallya had said, "We have made offers to Chhabria at various stages but nothing has come of it. We are interested in a settlement if Chhabria agrees on a reasonable one."
But Chhabria said told Business Standard in the past that he had held no talks with Mallya on an out-of-court settlement and that they had merely met at Herbertsons board meetings and casually mentioned the desirability of arriving at a settlement.
Mallya said at the earlier press conference that he was willing to buy out Chhabria's entire stake in Herbertsons. "We know at what valuation we have sold shares to him and at what price Kishore bought shares from the market. I am willing to give him a premium, provided it is reasonable," Mallya had said.
But Chhabria has indicated that he will fight the battle all the way to the Supreme Court, that he sees a long battle ahead and that he would like to rope in Shaw Wallace chairman and brother Manu Chhabria to enlist political support. Manu Chhabria told Business Standard that he would consider backing his brother if Kishore returned all he had taken from him.
Kishore Chhabria joined hands with Mallya after parting ways with Manu Chhabria in 1992. He brought to the table BDA Ltd, once a Shaw Wallace subsidiary that owns popular brands like Officer's Choice. Mallya gave him a 26 per cent stake in exchange for BDA Ltd, which became a fully-owned subsidiary of Herbertsons.
Since then, Kishore Chhabria bought an additional 21 per cent in Herbertsons and claimed control of the company.