New Delhi: In a major setback to the Birlas, the Supreme Court has dismissed the claims of K K Birla, B K Birla and Yash Birla in the Rs 5000 crore estate of the late Priyamvada Birla.
Priyamvada Birla had conferred the estate on her chartered accountant R S Lodha. Birlas had moved the Supreme Court after losing the case at the Calcutta High Court.
A bench comprising Justices S B Sinha and Harjit Singh Bedi imposed a cost of Rs 2.5 lakh each on the Birlas while dismissing the four appeals filed by them.
The Birlas have been directed to deposit the amount within four weeks with West Bengal Legal Services Authority, failing which the Authority would be at liberty to seek execution of the order.
The Apex Court, however, allowed the two appeals filed by R S Lodha and directed that Probate Proceedings be conducted as expeditiously as possible.
The 1991 Will Probate Proceedings filed by Lodha should be taken up first and the Will Probate Proceedings of 1999 should be taken up thereafter, the court directed.
The civil suit filed in 2004 should be taken up only after the disposal of Probate Proceedings, if necessary, the judges said.
It may be noted that R S Lodha is claiming that late Priyamvada Birla had made a will in his favour for the assets worth about Rs 5000 crore, while the Birlas are disputing the genuineness of the will.
The apex court also directed the registrar of the Supreme Court to send the copies of today's order to Kolkata High Court.
Lodha, a chartered accountant, had in 2004 declared that the entire Birla estate had been bequeathed to him by Priyamvada Birla, who died in July that year, leaving behind no heir, through a will of 1999.
For the execution of this purported will, Lodha had filed a probate petition in a different courts.
(With agency inputs)
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