M P Birla sisters keen on trial

The Birla side would like the probate petition filed by R S Lodha in the Priyamvada Birla will case to be heard as a trial as soon as possible.

Lodha's petition for grant of probate of late Priyamvada Birla's 1999 will took this interesting turn today when the two sisters of late M P Birla, Lakshmi Newar and Radha Mohta, filed a petition in the Calcutta High Court seeking to transfer the Lodha probate petition to suit proceedings.

However, with parallel litigation already being heard by the court on who the caveators could be in the case, as also a second probate petition filed by the Birlas on mutual wills of M P and Priyamvada Birla of 1982, such a request was a surprising development and could be considered premature, said legal sources.

The two sisters had earlier filed caveats challenging the validity of Lodha's petition for grant of probate.

In today's petition, the two sisters told the court that as they had already filed caveat in the Lodha probate application, the application should be treated as "contentious".

If the court allowed the prayer, the probate application would be treated as a "suit" while the objections filed by the two sisters would be treated as the "written statement", the pre-conditions necessary for suit proceedings to begin.

The two sisters said Lodha had not challenged their caveats, but had sought discharge of four caveats filed by K K Birla, B K Birla, G P Birla and Y Birla.

Mohta and Newar said Lodha had already admitted that under the Hindu Succession Act, 1925, they as the two surviving sisters of M P Birla, had caveatal interest in the probate application.

The sisters claimed that as M P Birla and his wife Priyamvada had no children, under the act they were the legal heirs along with other Birlas.

The case appeared in the court of Justice S K Mukherjee who had already refused to hear any case relating to the Birla will. He released the case on personal grounds once again today. The acting chief justice will now assign the case to another judge.

Related litigation was currently being heard in the High Court by Justice K J Sengupta.

Solicitors acting for Lodha and the Birla side refused to comment on the proceedings.