P L Narasimhan, who was in charge of the company during the years when most of the irregularities are alleged to have been committed by promoter Manu Chhabria, was once again not present at the meeting.
He has been unavailable to Shaw Wallace for the last five months since an arrest warrant was issued against him. According to the company, this is due to his ill-health, although asked where he was, SWC representatives were unable to provide his precise whereabouts.
It is believed that the Directorate of Income Tax (Investigation) will interrogate the two executive directors, Rao and Mathur, later this week. The income-tax department had not only raided the premises of the company in four cities, but had also sealed residences of certain top Shaw Wallace officials. Jain's residence in Mumbai was raided and alleged misappropriation of funds is indicated in findings resulting from these raids. I-T officials, however, say that it is still too early to level any charges against any top Shaw Wallace executive.
Meanwhile, Mrinal Guha, a Mather & Platt executive, has been sent on a mission to Calcutta to fight the current crisis. Guha, a former Johnson & Johnson director, is an employee of Mather & Platt, a Manu Chhabria group company. He has also been appointed Shaw Wallace's advisor (administration & technical).
Narasimhan was the executive director in charge of the company for two years since the resignation of Jhandilya Nari Narayanan, the previous managing director in 1994.
In May 1996, Ravi K Jain was made managing director superseding Narasimhan.
Narsimhan's residence in Calcutta was also among those raided by I-T officials last week. He appeared in May to get an anticipatory bail.