In her letter to the Sona BLW board, Rani Kapur said documents executed by her at a time of “mental and emotional vulnerability” were being misused.
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In just over a month since auto-components maker Sona BLW Chairman Sunjay Kapur passed away, there are stirrings of trouble at the Gurugram-based firm over ownership and control.
As news of trouble hit the markets, the stock on Friday tumbled 4.28 per cent on the BSE.
Sunjay Kapur’s mother, Rani Kapur, on Thursday shot off a letter to the company board, alleging that she was “coerced” into signing documents behind “locked doors” since her son passed away in “highly suspicious and unexplained circumstances” in the United Kingdom on June 12.
In her letter, Kapur said documents executed by her at a time of “mental and emotional vulnerability” were being misused.
She said she was in the process of gathering information despite “huge hurdles”, including no access to documents, bank accounts, or affairs of the group, and everything required being on hold till there was a proper understanding of affairs by the existing duly constituted, independent board and nothing must proceed further without discussion with her.
Requesting the board to postpone the annual general meeting (AGM), scheduled for Friday (by at least two weeks to a mutually convenient date), Kapur said that she had been left at the “mercy” of a select few for survival.
IMAGE: File picture of Sunjay Kapur.
Business Standard has reviewed the letter. However, the company proceeded with the AGM.
The board voted on nine items, including the reappointment and appointment of some directors.
The reappointment of Vivek Vikram Singh, Shraddha Suri, and Jeffery Mark Overly was voted on. So was the appointment of Priya Sachdev Kapur (wife of Sunjay Kapur).
The voting results will be announced in two days.
The company issued a statement saying that no documents had been signed by Rani Kapur or obtained from her by the firm following the passing of her son. Stating that she had been informed by “well-wishers” that there were plans to nominate certain director(s) in the company as representatives of the Kapur family, she added she had not given consent for nomination or officially nominated any person to join the board of the company or any other Sona group firm after her son’s death.
Rani Kapur said in her letter that she was the former chairperson of the company and the wife of the late Surinder Kapur, the founder of Sona Comstar and the Sona group.
“By virtue of the Will dated 30.06.2015 executed by my late husband, I am the sole beneficiary of his estate and accordingly, also a majority shareholder of the Sona Group including the Company,” she said.
According to the latest data on Sona BLW’s shareholding pattern on the stock exchanges, Rani Kapur and the R K family Trust are a promoter group of the company, and she owns 72 shares in it.
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff
