Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal restrained MBG Commodities Pvt. Ltd., one of India’s largest coal suppliers, from acting on decisions of its extraordinary general meeting (EGM) resolutions, which altered the company’s control and shareholding structure.
The bench comprising judicial member Rajeev Bhardwaj and technical member Sanjay Puri was dealing with a company petition filed by Ashok Kumar Mandhani alleging oppression and mismanagement on part of the company’s management in allotment of shares, which effectively shifted the control of the company. The petitioner was a 71.79 per cent shareholder prior to the impugned allotment in MBG Commodities.
The petitioner alleged that the impugned allotment reduced his stake to 47.87 per cent after 2.49 crore shares were issued to other respondents. It was the case of the petitioner that he was deliberately sidelined from company affairs through meetings convened without due notice and critical financial resolutions pushed through unilaterally.
Counsel for the petitioner Krishna Vennelakanti argued that these actions constituted a deliberate boardroom coup, involving fraudulent share allotments, misuse of funds and oppressive conduct, warranting urgent judicial intervention and investigation into company’s mismanagement. The tribunal observed that the petitioner demonstrated a prima facie case, the balance of convenience lay in his favour and that irreparable harm would result if interim relief was denied.
The bench restrained the management of MBG Commodities Pvt Ltd. from acting upon the decisions taken in the EGM and refrained from exercising voting rights based on a change of shareholding pattern in light of the EGM. The matter is posted for further hearing on September 11.