Lodha counsel raps Birlas over caveatable interest

K K Birla, B K Birla and Yashovardhan Birla have not established caveatable interest in the will of Priyamvada Birla, Anindya Mitra, counsel for R S Lodha said today in the court of Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta in his reply to the arguments made by Birla family lawyers.

Lodha has filed a petition seeking discharge of caveats filed by K K Birla, G P Birla, B K Birla and Yashovardhan Birla on the probate application filed by him relating to the 1999 will of Priyamvada Birla.

Mitra rejected the so-called mutual will of both M P Birla and Priyamvada Birla dated 1982 submitted by the Birla side in a related litigation and quoted a judgement which held all previous wills would be cancelled by the last will made by a person.

Birla lawyers had argued the mutual will of M P Birla and his wife Priyamvada meant she had no right to make any further wills.

Mitra said Birlas had offered documents to establish co-partnership, co-shareholdership, co-trusteeship and co-ownership between Priyamvada and the other Birla family factions.

These did not create caveatable interest. Mitra disputed the argument of Birlas that Priyamdvada had no right to make any further will because she inherited the property from her husband.

Under the Hindu Succession Act, a husband was bound to provide for his wife, so Priyamvada inherited wealth from him, but this did not prevent her from making her own will, Mitra said. He will continue on October 14.

Meanwhile, the Birla side slapped two cases against Rajendra Singh Lodha in the Calcutta High Court Wednesday.

Kashinath Tapuria, the common executor of M P Birla and Priyamvada Birla's mutual wills of 1982, filed the two petitions, seeking discharge of caveat filed by Lodha in the probate petitions for 1982 wills.

Tapuria said in his petitions Lodha did not disclose his caveatable interest in the affidavit he filed in support of caveat so he had no right to lodge any caveat in the proceedings.

Protap Chatterjee, counsel for Lodha, sought time to file affidavits on the both petitions and Justice Sengupta directed him to file affidavit in reply on M P Birla's will on December 18.

Earlier, S B Mookherjee and Bhaskar Sen, counsels for K K Birla and G P Birla, argued that under the Hindu Succession Act, the slightest interest permitted a person to file a caveat in a case.

K K Birla was one of the executors of M P Birla's 1982 mutual will and first cousin of M P Birla. There existed an agreement between Priyamvada Birla, K K Birla, SK Birla and G P Birla regarding Kumaun Orchards, in which Priyamvada was co-owner along with the other Birlas. These proved existence of joint family property and gave K K Birla right to file a caveat.

Kolkata's Birla Planetorium was run by a board of trustees on which M P Birla had nominated on his family members. This established jointness of property holding among Birlas and right to file a caveat.