Tuesday, August 23 2005 16:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: Chartered accountant Rajendra S Lodha, who has laid claim to the Rs 5000 crore assets of the M P Birla group, today (Aug 23, 2005) stated before the Calcutta High Court that the price of group flagship Birla Corporation Ltd's shares was steadily rising due to able management.

Appearing for Lodha, counsel Anindya Mitra submitted before Justice K J Sengupta that the upward swing of the share prices of Birla Corporation was due to the public's confidence in the performance of the company's management.

Mitra stated that the Birlas had not provided the right picture over the performance of the M P Birla group whip of Lodha.

Opposing the Birlas' plea for appointment of an administrator to the M P Birla group companies, he claimed that compared to cement companies of the other Birlas, the cement division of Birla Corporation had been doing better.

The Birlas and Lodha are fighting a series of legal battles, both civil and criminal, over the assets of the M P Birla group.

While Lodha has claimed that M P Birla's wife Priyamvada had willed away the assets to him, vide a will of 1999, for upholding her husband's name, the other members of the Birla family have claimed that the assets were meant for public charity and that a mutual will made by M P Birla and Priyamvada in 1982 had indicated as much.