Lodha relying on 'personal letters' to buttress his claim

KOLKATA: RS Lodha, the bete noire of the Birlas, is said to be banking heavily on ''personal'' letters addressed to him by late Priyamvada Birla to establish his right over the assets and properties of the MP Birla group and win the legal battle of the will.
Sources disclosed that Lodha has in his possession a "series of letters" written by late Priyamvada in ''Hindi''.The letters reportedly spell out in unambigious terms Priyamvada''s displeasure regarding her family (Birla) members. She had reportedly confided to Lodha about her loss of confidence and trust on her family members. Sources said the letters also categorically stated that Priyamvada would bequeath everything (assets and properties) of MP Birla group to Lodha after her death.
Incidentally, the contents of late Priyamvada Birla''s will matches the tone and tenor of the personal letters written by her to Lodha. However, it could not be ascertained what prompted Priyamvada to write such letters and under what circumstances.
Sources close to Lodha claimed that he has a copy of the will of late MP Birla. The will of late Priyamvada Birla bequething the assets and proper-ties of MP Birla group to Lodha also refers to the will of her husband.
The TOI now learns that both MP Birla and his wife had prepared "mutual wills". These wills were prepared in 1981 and in the subsequent year slight modifications were made. The late MP Birla signed the will of his wife as witness and vice versa. In his will MP Birla said that after his death the assets and properties of his group would go to Priyamvada but if his death was preceeded by the death of Priyamdava then after his demise the assets and properties of the group would go to charity. Similarly, in her will Priyamvada mentioned that if MP Birla dies before her then assets and properties of the group would also go to charity after her death.
The affidavits filed by the Birlas in response to the caveat notice of the court repeatedly mentions about the "mutual wills" of the MP Birla and his wife. The contention of the Birlas was that whether Priyamvada had the right to make a fresh will bequeathing the assets and properties of the MP Birla group to Lodha as the contention and essence of the mutual wills were that ultimately the assets and properties should be passed on to charity. The legal battle between the Birlas and Lodha would be fought on the interpretation of the mutual wills. It is also learnt that last Friday K K Birla, B K Birla, G P Birla and S K Birla had reviewed the situation in the presence of their legal advisors, Pradip (Pintoo) Khaitan and N G Khaitan at Birla Building. Besides the Birlas, the brother of late Priyamvada, Kashi Nath Tapariah, was also present. Sources also disclosed that "just a few days before she fell ill, Priyamvada had passed on the management control of Indian Smelting and Refining Company Ltd to C K Birla". While CK Birla was holding the majority stake in the company, however, it was managed by Priyamvada Birla.