MAM Ramaswamy was today removed as Chairman of Chettinad Cement Corporation, at the company’s 51{+s}{+t} annual general meeting.

Later, MAMR Muthiah, Managing Director, announced that Ramaswamy would be Chairman-Emeritus for life.

The original notice to the shareholders had mentioned that Ramaswamy, who retires by rotation, was willing to be re-appointed as Director.

However, shareholders voted for an amended resolution that said he is not being re-appointed as director. The company has decided to keep that post vacant.

Ramaswamy, who was to have chaired the AGM, did not participate in the meeting, which was conducted by another director, L Muthukrishnan, according to shareholders who attended the meeting.

Ramaswamy is in hospital.

Yesterday, the CBI arrested M Manu Neethi Cholan, Registrar of Companies (Chennai), on charges of accepting a bribe from Ramaswamy. The CBI said it had received information about an attempt by a rival group within the company management to take control during the annual general meeting.

The CBI also searched an office at Chettinad House in Chennai, Ramaswamy’s residence.

The AGM today, held in an auditorium in the same building where Chettinad Cement has its offices, was attended by about 50 shareholders, according to one of the public shareholders present.

Ramaswamy, who turns 83 next month, joined the company started by his father, in 1962, the same year the company came into being.

According to the shareholder, other resolutions, including appointing three independent directors — Mamidipudi Ravindra Vikram, Aryabumi Mohan Krishna Reddy and Bhavana G Desai — were passed at the AGM.

A BE in Computer Science, Muthiah, 43, the adopted son of Ramaswamy, joined Chettinad Cement in May 1998.

The company delisted from the stock exchanges in June 2013. The promoters hold over 95 per cent of the shares, with Ramaswamy holding about 24 per cent and Muthiah, related persons and group companies the rest.

Of the remaining shares, 2 per cent is with the Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation and 2 per cent with the public.

Since 2008, Chettinad Cement has been increasing its installed capacity, which is now 11 million tonnes a year. It has three plants in Tamil Nadu and one in Karnataka.

In March, the company signed an agreement to buy Anjani Portland Cement Ltd, which has a plant in Nalgonda district of Telangana.

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