The Hindu Business Line : Dhunseri plans to remove Lodhas

THE phenomenon of removing Lodha & Co of Mr Rajendra Singh Lodha as the statutory auditor of some listed companies is extending beyond the ambit of Birla units.

The Kolkata-based Dhunseri Group owned by Mr C.K. Dhanuka is considering replacing Lodha & Co as the statutory auditors for its two companies, Dhunseri Tea & Industries Ltd and South Asian Petrochem Ltd, with Lovelock & Lewes.

Special resolutions have been formulated, circulated and advertised.

Next month, the shareholders' approval will be sought in the respective annual general meetings of these two companies. Lovelock & Lewes is already the auditor of Tezpore Tea Co owned by the C.K. Dhanuka group.

The reason cited for this removal, however, has apparently got nothing to do with the ongoing spat between the Birla family and Mr Lodha on the ownership of the Rs 5,000 crore MP Birla Group.

Mr Dhanuka said following the recent developments in the last two months, the management teams of these two companies were no longer feeling comfortable with Lodha & Co as the auditor.

"Mr Lodha is now heading the MP Birla Group. His interests as chief of that group will clash with our interests of having him as the statutory auditor. He cannot hold both the positions simultaneously. So we are removing Lodha & Co," Mr Dhanuka said.

Mr Dhanuka is Chairman and Managing director of Dhunseri Tea, an 88-year-old tea firm, and Vice-Chairman of South Asian Petrochem, an eight-year old company running India's largest PET resin plant at Haldia in West Bengal.

The management of Jaipur Polyspin Ltd, another company in the Dhanuka group and a manufacturer of synthetic yarn, is also considering a similar move.

"The board of directors of this company is yet to take such a decision but it may do so in future," he said.

Mr Dhanuka, however, said that the change in auditor was not linked with the Birla-Lodha legal tussle.

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