Boards of MP Birla firms ‘recommend against’ induction of nominees

Birla Corporation, in a stock exchange filing, said subsequent to the issuance of the AGM notice, it received a notice in writing from The Punjab Produce & Trading Co, proposing the candidature of Rameshwar Singh Thakur for the office of director of the company. (File image)

The board of directors of all the operating companies of MP Birla group — Birla Corporation, Birla Cable, Universal Cables and Vindhya Telelinks — have “strongly recommended against” induction of nominees of The Punjab Produce & Trading Co, one of the investment firms of the group.

The operating companies, in separate regulatory filings, said The Punjab Produce & Trading Co has ongoing litigations with firms and entities belonging to MP Birla Group, and therefore, induction of its nominees could be detrimental to the interest of the companies and other stakeholders as there’s a possibility of conflict of interest.

Punjab Produce & Trading Co earlier sent notices to the group’s operating firms, proposing board seats for its nominees.

“The boards of the operating companies have reviewed the nominations suggested by two members of the APL Committee in spite of opposition from the third member, and have strongly recommended that shareholders vote against the resolutions appointing these persons as directors because it could lead to serious conflict of interest. We have faith in the wisdom of shareholders that these resolutions will be defeated,” said Debanjan Mandal, partner, Fox & Mandal.

Birla Corporation, in a stock exchange filing, said subsequent to the issuance of the AGM notice, it received a notice in writing from The Punjab Produce & Trading Co, proposing the candidature of Rameshwar Singh Thakur for the office of director of the company. Accordingly, the proposal for appointment of Thakur shall be an additional agenda at the AGM, scheduled on September 29. It said in the filing its nomination and remuneration panel and the board of directors at their respective meetings have strongly recommended “against” the appointment of Thakur after careful evaluation.

Birla Cable, in a filing on September 15, said it received two notices from The Punjab Produce & Trading Co, signifying candidatures of Dhanpat Ram Agarwal for office of director of the company and Satish Pradhan for the office of director of the company in place of Harsh V Lodha, director retiring by rotation at the forthcoming AGM.

The AGMs of Birla Cable, Universal Cables and Vindhya Telelinks are scheduled on September 23.