The fight against the Murugappa Group — either to get a seat on the Board of the holding company or till the family buys back the 8.23 per cent stake — will continue, said Valli Arunachalam, the eldest daughter of former Murugappa Group executive chairman MV Murugappan. She is fighting a legal battle on the issue against Ambadi Investments Ltd (AIL), the flagship company of the ₹38,000-crore Murugappa Group and family members.

“I am always open for talks to settle the matter amicably. This has been our position right from the beginning. However, they are not willing to come to the table,” she told BusinessLine .

In March, Valli Arunachalam moved an application before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Chennai, seeking a waiver of the minimum shareholding requirement of 10 per cent to maintain the alleged oppression and mismanagement case against AIL and also its family members.

“It is a fight for equality for daughters and sons. When sons can be entitled to the family business, in the 21st century why can’t daughters be entitled to the family business as well. Daughters are educated and qualified. It should be capability and credentials that are the cornerstones of representation on the board, not gender. That’s what our fight is all about,” she said.

“Why is the bar so low for a male or a son in the family, and so high for a daughter of the family? We left no stone unturned to resolve the matter amicably. Numerous times we proposed meetings with the extended family and us to resolve the issue but they did not come to the meeting due to various reasons.

When we tried to sell the shares to our cousins, they said they didn’t have the money,” she said.

Also read: NCLT issues notices to Ambadi Investments on waiver petition by Valli Arunachalam

“Having waited for three years, as a last resort, we went to the NCLT. I have complete confidence in the judicial system and will wait for the outcome through a due process,” she said.

In the Murugappa family, every family branch has one son except two branches —one branch chose to adopt a son to carry on the inheritance but Murugappan decided to pass on the entire inheritance to his wife and his two daughters, she said.

“My father died in 2017, and as per his wishes, we went to the family and told them to settle with a fair value in an amicable way. We asked the family to honour his wishes, but for three years the family kicked the can down the road,” she said.

Valli Arunachalam said she had applied for a board position a few months ago but the family unanimously voted against her nomination. “They would not settle us at a fair value or give us representation on the board. The only distinguishing factor between my nomination and the nomination of all the male cousins was that I am a female,” she said.

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