BPL feud: Rajeev gets a breather

CLB lifts freeze on BPL Communications shares.

Round one in the BPL family feud went to Rajeev Chandrashekhar, when acting on his petition against TPG Nambiar, his father-in-law, the Company Law Board (CLB) lifted the freeze on the transfer of shares of BPL Communications and its two subsidiaries, BPL Mobile Communications and BPL Mobile Cellular.

However, the CLB added in the order that its permission would have to be taken before any transfer of shares took place.

Sources in the Chandrashekhar camp said today's decision had cleared the decks for an amicable resolution of the dispute. "It will be internally resolved, it is no longer an external matter," the sources added.

Today's order supersedes the CLB's order on Monday that prohibited the transfer of shares and directed the inspection of the records of companies under Chandrashekhar's control.

Chandrashekhar's counsel said before a CLB Bench today that any freeze on the transfer of the shares could go against the interests of the three companies and their promoters.

But while granting relief to the petitioners, the CLB Bench did not agree with the argument that Chandra- shekhar and others did not receive any intimation of the Monday hearing on time, resulting in the ex parte order.

"I do not find any substance in the allegation that in getting the ex parte order, any fraudulent practice was adopted," the judge noted.

Chandrashekhar's counsel also said that, in anticipation of the petition from the Nambiar camp, Chandrashekhar had already filed a caveat in the court's southern Bench, according to which no ex parte order could be passed.

He alleged that Nambiar's counsel chose to keep the central Bench of the court in the dark about the caveat. CLB Chairman S Balasubramanian directed Nambiar's counsel to submit an affidavit as to why he was not informed of the caveat.

The petition filed by Nambiar in the CLB had alleged that Chandrashekhar, with the help of three investment companies owned by him "" Vectra Holdings, Surya Samudra Finance and Epsilon Advisor "" had acquired 32 per cent holding in the BPL Mobile group, without infusing any equity capital into it.