Feud breaks out at Finolex; AGM set to be stormy today

PROXY ADVISORY COS FLAG CORP GOVERNANCE ISSUES; CO BLAMES PRAKASH CHHABRIA FOR THE ROW

Even as proxy advisory firms have flagged corporate governance issues at Finolex Cables and also advised shareholders to vote out three directors at the annual general meeting slated for Tuesday, the company publicly accused Prakash Chhabria, the cousin of Deepak Kisandas Chhabria, of instigating shareholders and creating the controversy.

Proxy advisory firms Stakeholder Empowerment Services (SES) and Ingovern Research have accused the Pune-based Finolex Cables, headed by Deepak Chhabria, of taking its shareholders for a ride by violating many provisions of the Companies Act and Sebi norms and has advised shareholders to reject the reappointments of three directors, PR Barpande, Avinash

Shridhar Khare and Firoza Fredoon Kapadia as additional directors who were on board from September 30, 2020.

Mahesh Viswanathan, the chief executive of Finolex Cables, described the allegations as false and being spread at the instance of Prakash Chhabria, the cousin of Finolex Cables chairman Deepak Chhabria and chairman of Finolex Industries.

"While it is not appropriate to comment on matters that are sub-judice (since November 2016), it is apparent that Prakash Chhabria is instigating actions against the interests of Finolex Cables.by instigating Orbit and Finolex Industries to vote against reappointment of our longstanding, respectable directors, two years ago and again against all directors last year," Viswanathan said in the statement.

On the ongoing civil litigation since November 2016 on the majority ownership in group holding firm Orbit Electricals, he said, "a question in issue in this litigation is regarding the purported gifting of majority of shares of Orbit by PP Chhabria to Prakash Chhabria, very shortly before his death but after having left several documents recording how his Orbit shares should be dealt with," Viswanathan further said. He also recalled the two FIRs that the Pune police had registered against Prakash Chhabria and four others in February