MUMBAI, DEC 27: The annual general meeting of BDA Ltd, which is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Herbertsons Ltd, witnessed high drama on Monday with the Kishore Chhabria faction preventing the entry of Herbertsons' representatives to the meeting.``When these representatives reached the BDA office at Khetan Bhavan, Churchgate, they were not allowed entry by six security men. Even the BDA directors S R Gupte and S D Lalla were not allowed inside the BDA office,'' the UB group said in a release. The UB group, which owns Herbertsons, and the Chhabrias are fighting for control of BDA.``The ostensible reason give by Kishore Chhabria for denying entry to the Herbertson represenatives was that the resolutions passed by Herbertsons Ltd under Section 187 of the Companies Act and the proxies granted to various persons were defective,'' the UB release said. Herbertsons had obtained a written opinion on December 25 from Justice M N Chandurkar, former chief justice of the High Courts in Mumbai and Madras, stating thatthe actions taken by Herbertsons Ltd, under Section 187 as well as the appointment of proxies were perfectly lawful and valid.``The principal reason behind the denial of entry by Kishore Chhabria is that three of his directors on the Board of BDA Ltd viz M D Chhabria, R D Chhabira and J C Vohra would have ceased to be directors at the BDA AGM thereby giving Herbertsons Ltd, the 100 per cent owner of BDA Ltd, majority representation on the BDA board,'' UB said.The events started unfolding in the following manner this morning: Shaw Wallace & Company Ltd filed an application in the Mumbai High Court seeking inter alia releif that any resolution passed at the AGM of BDA to be held today should not be given effect to till further orders of the court. Justice Parkar declined to grant relief sought by Shaw Wallace at 1.55 pm. It will be pertinent to note here that on Novermber 25, 1999 the Supreme Court had stayed a Calcutta high court order which was obtained by Shaw Wallace on November 26, 1999 forappointing two of their nominees on the BDA Board. This had been done in Calcutta without notice to Herbertsons Ltd, UB said.
