R.S. Lodha, disputed beneficiary of Priyamvada Birla's will, dies of heart attack in London

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Lodha, 66, was in the apartment of B.K. Birla, the head of the eponymous BK Birla Group, when he died.

"We were having tea and discussing various issues in a very congenial atmosphere. He suddenly started feeling uncomfortable and collapsed," B.K. Birla said, adding that he was immediately rushed to hospital where he was declared brought dead.

A chartered accountant by profession, Lodha turned out to be the nightmare of the entire Birla clan when he produced a will, claiming that Priyamvada Birla, chairperson of the Birla Corporation, had bequeathed the entire assets of the Rs.5,000 crore M.P. Birla Group to him.

M.P. Birla Group includes, amongst others, Birla Corporation, Universal Cables, Birla Ericsson Optical, Vindhya Telelinks, Hindustan Gum & Chemicals, Bombay Hospital in Mumbai and Indore, Birla Vikas Hospital at Satna and Siddhi, MP Birla Planetarium, Belle Vue Clinic, Priyamvada Birla Aravind Eye Hospital and South Point Schools in Kolkata.

Lodha, who applied for the probate of the purported will, which itself became a matter of dispute, faced stiff resistance from senior members of the Birla clan and soon a protracted legal battle between Lodha and the Birlas, headed by B.K. Birla, ensued.

Following Lodha 's demise, a visibly shocked B.K. Birla said he was saddened by his death and "the battle of willsthe (pending) court cases" was no longer important to him.

During his lifetime, Lodha served as the president of apex industry chamber FICCI and the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata.

Lodha was also associated with boards of National Securities Depositories Limited, Tourism Finance Corporation, Oriental Insurance Corporation, State Bank of India. He was also a member of the SEBI committees on takeover code review and disclosure in offer documents.

His audit firm Lodha & Co. was the auditor to almost all leading Birla companies till he fell out with the business family.

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