Judge not to hear Birla-Lodha dispute cases

Justice Girish Gupta of Calcutta High Court today recused himself from hearing cases relating to the Birla-Lodha dispute over the M P Birla Group assets on personal grounds.
Justice Gupta, who had been assigned the dispute between the Birla family and late R S Lodha, released the cases on the ground that he had been treated in a hospital owned by one of the contestants.
The matters would now be referred back to the chief justice who would assign the same to a new judge.
The dispute between the Birla family commenced following the demise of Priyamvada Birla, widow of M P Birla, in 2004.

R S Lodha, chartered accountant for M P Birla Group, had claimed that the M P Birla Group assets, believed to be worth Rs 5,000 crore then, had been willed to him by Priyamvada Birla.
A probate application moved before Calcutta High Court for formally transferring the assets by Lodha was challenged by different Birla family members.
Several cases and counter cases have been filed by the contesting parties over these years, including criminal cases.
R S Lodha died in October, 2008 and the cases are being handled by his son Harsh.