Search of Lodha's premises necessary: Counsel

Kolkata, Aug 19 (UNI) The criminal case against R S Lodha and others filed by R P Pansari came up for further hearing today in the court of Mr Ashok Kumar Pal, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Alipore.

Advocate General Balai Ray submitted that the purported will made by Priyamvada Birla on April 18, 1999, was ''forged''.

Prior to that Will, both Mr M P Birla and Mrs Priyamvada Birla executed two mutual Wills. They were issueless and hence all their assets through the said mutual Wills were to go to charity.

In 1988 both of them created five trusts. In 1990, Mr M P Birla died and on September 10, 1990, Mrs Priyamvada Birla nominated Hindustan Medical Institution, Eastern India Educational Institution and M P Birla Foundation as beneficiaries of their property.

Mr Ray submitted that in the probate proceedings filed by Lodha at Calcutta High Court, he did not mention the existence of the said Trusts. Both Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court have accepted, prima facie, that a criminal case has been made out against Lodha and others.

Mr Ray further submitted that if the Trusts are in existence, the purported Will is defunct as no property has been left out. Lodha failed to submit any evidence that Trusts were dissolved except one letter allegedly written by Priyamvada Birla informing the Income Tax authoriies about the alleged dissolution of the Trusts.

Challenging the showcause notice against Lodha and others issued by the previous Chief Judicial Magistrate, Alipore, Mr Ray submitted that section 91 ( i) c of the Cr PC envisages either to accept or reject the plea and hence, issuance of showcause notice to the accused was outside the Magistrate's jurisdiction.

It is against the judicial procedure to ask the accused whether his premises will be searched or not.

The immediate search of the office and residential premises of Lodha and others is absolutely necessary to retrieve documents like correspondences, passport, share certificates and others of Priyamvada Birla which is a must for the instant proceedings, said Mr Ray.

As an example, Mr Ray submitted that the Calcutta High Court appointed Special Officers to conduct inventory of Priyamvada Birla's assets and found a veritable treasure trove comprising of jewellery, gold coins and other items that were not disclosed by Lodha.

The hearing will continue on September 2, 2006.

UNI XC SJC BDP Mir BD1908