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The entire Birla family on Wednesday said it would not allow an 'outsider' to take away their property and that they have decided to challenge the will of Priyamvada Birla, by which assets worth more than Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) of the M P Birla group have been left in the name of its co-chairman Rajendra S Lodha.
"As per law, the property of a person goes to the nearest relative. How can an outsider claim the Birla family property?" Basant Kumar Birla, the patriarch of the Birla family, asked on Wednesday.
Asked whether the Birlas were doubting the veracity of the will, he said: "It is not the question of doubting the veracity. It may be correct, it may be wrong, but we have to deal with it from legal point of view, for which steps are being taken."
Basant Kumar Birla, grandfather of Kumarmangalam Birla, said that almost the entire Birla family sat together and decided to challenge the will. The family's legal firms have already been directed to take necessary action, he added.
He said the will, which was opened by Lodha himself on Monday, had come as 'a shock and surprise' for the family.
As per the will, the entire assets of the M P Birla Group have been left to Lodha by the late Priyamvada Birla, widow of Madhav Prasad Birla, who passed away childless on July 3.
Lodha was close to the clan for over the last two decades and was appointed co-chairman of the group about five years ago.
Birla confirmed that the will had been opened in front of members of Birla family on Monday.
Emphasising that there was no difference of opinion in the family on the issue he said, "We are a completely homogeneous family and unanimous in our stand on this issue."
Though Kumarmangalam Birla, who heads the Aditya Birla group, was not present during the opening of the will and also at the subsequent Birla family meeting, he is very much with the family on the issue.
"He (Kumarmangalam) is my grandson and he is very much with all of us," Birla said.
He said that he -- along with his elder brother K K Birla, who is now the senior-most in the family, G P Birla and other members -- has decided on this course of action.
Since M P Birla and Priyamvada did not have any child, the property, according to family sources, should have gone to the young Yashovardhan Birla, who is the closest blood relation of M P Birla.
Yashovardhan is the son of M P Birla's nephew, Ashoke Vardhan, who died in a plane crash. After that M P Birla had looked after Yashovardhan, then a minor.
The family sources also confirmed that arrangements were on to challenge Priyamvada's will in the Calcutta high court in the next two to three days.
Earlier, sources in the B K Birla group said: "We are sure the will is fabricated and so are going to challenge it in the court of law."
The Birla family sources said Priyamvada's will came as a complete surprise as even those who were considered close to her have not been given anything.
K K Birla's two daughters, Nandini Nopany and Jyotsna Poddar, who were very close to Priyamvada, have been totally ignored in the will. Her brother, Kashinath Taparia, also does not find any mention.
Priyamvada, who died on July 3 at the age of 77, had taken over the responsibility of running the M P Birla Group in 1990 after the death of her husband and took it to new heights.
Lodha has been associated with the group for more than two decades and about five years ago he was elevated to the post of co-chairman.
The group has presence in cement, jute, cable, steel foundry and casting and PVC linoleum floor covering industries apart from education and healthcare fields.
Birla Corporation, Universal Cables, Birla Ericsson, Vindhya Telelinks and Birla-DLW are some of the companies of the group.
The healthcare units run by the group include Bombay Hospital in Mumbai and Indore, Belle Vue Clinic and M P Birla Eye Clinic in Kolkata, and Birla Vikas Hospital at Satna in Madhya Pradesh.
The M P Birla Group runs and manages South Point School and M P Birla Foundation Higher Secondary School in Kolkata, M P Birla Institute of Management, Bangalore, Industrial Training Institute, Rewa, as well as the M P Birla Planetarium, Kolkata, among others.