In a fresh escalation to the feud between the Lodha brothers, Abhinandan Lodha-led House of Abhinandan Lodha (HoABL) has filed a police complaint to investigate the alleged offences committed by unknown people and not any particular person, CNBC TV18 report confirmed. Seeking the registration of an FIR, the complaint accused unnamed individuals of orchestrating a “malicious conspiracy” to defame the company and tarnish its reputation. The police complaint followed allegations of ‘forgery’ by Abhishek Lodha’s Macrotech Developers on April 2. The duo is currently engaged in a court-mandated mediation over the use of “Lodha” trademark.
In the police complaint, HoABL denied the allegations and called for a thorough investigation describing the matter as involving “serious and grave criminal offences”. It also denied any wrongdoing, saying it “strongly suspects mischief by persons with malicious intent”.
The police complaint follows a regulatory filing by Macrotech Developers on April 2, wherein the company had alleged that HoABL had “forged” board resolutions of the former, containing a no objection for the use of its trademarks, and filed the same with government authorities. It also said that HoABL-linked entities used a fake PAN card to change their corporate names to include the term “Lodha”. Macrotech had informed the exchanges that no board meeting of the company was held on the date mentioned in these resolutions and the company’s board has never considered or approved them in any of its meetings.
Macrotech sources had said that HoABL obtained a resolution dated July 2022 which allowed formation of four new companies — Lodha Landbuild Infrastructure, Lodha Bhoomi Nirman, Lodha Land Design Infra, and Lodha Pictorials Landinfra. The four companies were allowed to use the Lodha trademark and were to be registered with the registrar of companies’ (RoC) central registration centre in Manesar, Haryana.
In January, Macrotech Developers initiated legal action against HoABL in the Bombay High Court, alleging trademark infringement and claiming damages of Rs 5,000 crore. The court has referred the matter to mediation and has appointed an arbitrator to oversee the proceedings.