Chhabria asks CLB to dismiss Mallya plea

The last few months have seen a corporate war between Vijay Mallya and Kishore Chhabria over the ownership of Herbertsons Ltd.

Following the controversy over the ownership, Vijay Mallya had filed petition in CLB alleging Kishore Chhabria of siphoning off funds from BDA to acquire shares of Herbertsons.

In turn Kishore Chhabria also filed a petition in CLB alleging Vijay Mallya had siphoned funds from Herbertsons for his personal benefits.

On allegations by income tax authorities ofsiphoning funds of over Rs 100 crore, Chhabria said subsequent to the raid by IT officials an order was issued by the assessing department which was for Rs 33 crore.

With reference to the qualification recorded by the auditors in the accounts of BDA about which Herbertsons have made serious allegations of mismanagement, Chhabria said that such qualifications were continuing from 1991-92 and not for the last three years as alleged in the petition.

"These qualification have been caused due to the non-availability of records which were stolen or damaged as a result of BDA litigation with Shaw Wallace group of companies," Chhabria’s reply stated.

He also enclosed various correspondence which indicate that the alleged nominees of Herbertsons in the board of BDA were clearly aware of the problem related to the accounts of the company.

Herbertsons, who claim to have four nominee directors on the board of BDA, have never raised or called for discussion of any of the issues raised by way of allegations in thepresent petition, Chhabria added.