The Gujarat High Court has halted criminal proceedings and summons issued against Kumar Mangalam Birla, his mother Rajashree Birla, and seven other directors of UltraTech Cement by a Vadodara court, following a criminal complaint.
The summons had been issued on September 9 by the Vadodara chief judicial magistrate in connection with a case filed by Abhishek Shrivastava, the proprietor of Srimech Engineering. The directors of UltraTech Cement subsequently approached the High Court to challenge the summons. It was argued before the court that there had been a contract between Srimech and UltraTech for the supply of limestone.
This contract, related 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 of the previous year.
The petitioners’ counsel argued that despite this ongoing commercial dispute, Shrivastava had filed a criminal case in the Vadodara court, which lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter. The court was informed that the issues raised in the criminal complaint were identical to those in the commercial suit.
The counsel further argued that since the complainant had already pursued a civil remedy, the continuation of criminal proceedings would constitute an abuse of legal processes.
In response, Justice Nirzar Desai granted interim relief to the petitioners, staying the Vadodara court proceedings, and issued notices to the state government and the complainant. The case is set for further hearing on December 3.
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