Construction Industry News
The Gujarat High Court has stayed criminal proceedings and summons issued by a Vadodara court against Kumar Mangalam Birla, his mother Rajashree Birla and seven other directors of UltraTech Cement on a criminal complaint.
The summons was issued by the Chief Justice of Vadodara on September 9 in connection with a case filed by Abhishek Shrivastava, the owner of Srimech Engineering. The directors of UltraTech Cement then approached the High Court challenging the summons. It was argued before the court that there was a contract between Srimech and UltraTech for the supply of limestone.
This contract, which pertained to mining in Madhya Pradesh, was later terminated by UltraTech for certain reasons, prompting Srimech to file a commercial suit in Rewa district, Madhya Pradesh in November the previous year.
The plaintiffs' counsel submitted that despite this ongoing commercial dispute, Shrivastava had filed a criminal case in the Vadodara court, which had no jurisdiction to try the case. The court was informed that the issues raised in the criminal complaint were identical to those raised in the commercial suit.
Counsel further argued that since the complainant had already filed a civil claim, continuing the criminal proceedings would constitute an abuse of legal process.
In response, Justice Nirzar Desai granted the plaintiffs an interim injunction, staying the court proceedings in Vadodara and issuing notices to the state government and the plaintiff. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on December 3.
548
875
2632
4715
799
1499
298
999
2290
0
3999
4122
