Harsh Vardhan Lodha has been removed from the boards of the five toprung investment companies of the MP Birla Group, escalating the battle over the control of the business empire spread across cement, cable and jute sectors.

These companies, chaired by Justice Mohit S Shah (retired), took the step in their respective board meetings in October and subsequently informed the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) of the cessation. The website of the MCA now shows that Lodha has ceased to be the director of these firms.

The Lodha camp termed Harsh’s removal as ‘illegal actions’ and filed applications, which may come up for hearing on Friday before the Calcutta High Court. Lodha has been director on the board of these companies since 2004.

Justice Shah (retired) is a member of the committee of administrator pendente lite (APL Committee), appointed by the court to look after the estate of late Priyamvada Devi Birla, till the pendency of her contested will, which had bequeathed the estate to late Rajendra Lodha, father of Harsh.

The threemember APL committee had been seeking to oust Lodha from the boards of all the four listed companies of MP Birla Group, alleging that he was acting against the interests of the estate.

The investment firms took note of the judgment passed on September 18 by a single bench of the high court, which restrained Lodha from holding any office of the MP Birla Group till the pendency of the probate suit of Priyamvada’s contested will.

On October 1, a division bench of the HC declined ad interim stay on the single bench order but clarified that Lodha would be restrained from holding office ‘on the strength of the shares referable to the estate of Priyamvada Birla’.

The Birla and Lodha camps took divergent views of the order. While the Birla side claimed that the single bench order had been upheld, the Lodha camp argued the order paved the way for his continuation on the boards, trusts and societies of MP Birla Group.

Since then, Birla Corp and all three listed firms held board meetings under the chairmanship of Harsh Lodha. However, Justice Shah (retired) did not allow Lodha to join the board meets of the investment firms citing the HC order and removed him from the boards.

The Birla camp on Thursday said it was in the process of filing a contempt of court order case against the listed companies and their directors for flouting the order.

The Lodhas pointed out that the APL committee formed an opinion that Lodha has ceased to be a director automatically despite the division bench modification. They alleged the board meetings of the companies were conducted improperly and flouting the law and the companies were coerced to make filings to the MCA.

The investment companies — East India Investment, Gwalior Webbing, The Punjab Produce & Trading Co, Baroda Agent & Trading Co and Punjab Produce Holdings — together hold around 14.23 per cent directly in Birla Corporation, the flagship of the group, having a market capitalisation of Rs 5,701 crore. They are a part of the promoter group of Birla Corp, which has 62.9 per cent in the company.

They also hold significant shares in three other listed cable companies of the group, which have a combined market cap of around Rs 1,500 crore as on November 19.

While late Priyamvada, and now the estate, held majority stakes in two of the investment companies — East India and Gwalior Webbing — she directly held minority stake in the rest. For instance, in The Punjab Produce Trading and Punjab Produce Holdings, the estate holds 0 per cent and 0.08 per cent directly. However, they together hold 10.63 per cent in BCL.