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Kolkata, July 2004. A will is being read in a room. Outside, the country's biggest business family, the Birlas, and then that line—the entire empire to a chartered accountant, and not a single rupee to any Birla. It is said
The Birla family's ₹25,000 crore empire was controversially bequeathed to their accountant, sparking India's longest inheritance battle.
Key Takeaways
- Inheritance disputes can deeply affect even the wealthiest and most established families.
- Trust and personal relationships can override traditional family expectations in wealth succession.
- Legal battles over wills can span decades, involving multiple generations and complex litigation.
- Indian business dynasties traditionally avoid court disputes, but changing times bring new challenges.
- The case highlights the importance of clear, legally sound wills and the potential consequences of contested estates.
What the video covers
- In 2004, Priyamvada Birla's will shocked the Birla family by leaving their ₹25,000 crore empire to their chartered accountant, Rajendra Singh Lodha.
- The Birla family, a prominent Indian business dynasty, traditionally kept wealth within family branches for over 100 years.
- Priyamvada Birla, widow of Madhav Prasad Birla, managed the empire with simplicity and charity, having no children.
- Rajendra Singh Lodha was a trusted advisor and co-chairman of Birla Corporation before inheriting the empire.
- The will triggered a legal battle lasting over 22 years, involving more than 110 cases and multiple generations.
- The dispute questions the authenticity of the will and challenges family norms about inheritance and reputation.
- The Birla family branches have historically avoided court battles, preferring private settlements, making this case unprecedented.
- The legal fight has become a landmark case studied in Indian law regarding will challenges and inheritance rights.
- Despite ongoing litigation, Lodha maintained support from Birla Corporation’s common shareholders, emphasizing management over lineage.
- The Supreme Court admitted appeals in 2024 but has not yet issued a final verdict or stay, leaving the case unresolved.
Chapters
- 00:00The Shocking Will Reading in Kolkata
- 01:28The Ongoing Legal Battle Over 22 Years
- 03:06The Birla Family Dynasty and Its Branches
- 04:39M.P. Birla’s Empire and Priyamvada Birla’s Role
- 06:17Life of Priyamvada Birla and Her Relationship with Lodha
- 07:45The Role of the Chartered Accountant in Marwari Families
- 09:11Two Different Wills and the Beginning of the Dispute
- 10:43Legal Proceedings and Family Reactions
- 12:35The Case’s Impact on Indian Law and Corporate Governance
- 14:07Current Status and Unresolved Questions
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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that silence descended upon the room. The paper was read again. The words remained the same. Every single letter, the same. Someone must have thought it was a mistake. Someone must have thought it was a cruel joke, but a
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registered will does not joke. The name of the departed was Priyamvada Birla, aged 76. The head of the M.P. Birla Group. Cement, jute, cables, hospitals, planetariums, and an entire world of charity. The wealth at that time was
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nearly 5,000 crores. Today, media reports estimate this empire to be around 25,000 crores. The family was certain the empire would return home.
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Birla wealth stays with Birlas; that had been the norm for 100 years. But the name in the will did not belong to a Birla. It belonged to the man who had managed the family's accounts for years. Rajendra Singh Lodha, a chartered
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accountant. But wait, there is something here that you probably don't know. This shock was just the first scene. The legal battle over this will is still ongoing today. Over 22 years, with more than 110 cases at one point.
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Two generations have been spent in court, and the court hasn't delivered a final verdict yet. Whether this will should be considered genuine or not. At stake is a 25,000-crore empire and a family's 100-year-old reputation. And the question that haunts every
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household. What will happen to your wealth after you are gone? This is the story. Of India's longest inheritance battle. This is the story. Of a silent widow and her accountant. Birla versus Lodha. This is India's Richest. Here, we tell stories that don't make it to
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TV. New episode every day; subscribe, it's free. First, understand the dynasty, because without it, the shock won't make sense. Pilani, a town in Rajasthan. A Marwari family emerged from there, four brothers, and the brightest name among them: Ghanshyam
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Das Birla, G.D. He was Gandhi ji’s closest industrialist, investing both money and trust in the freedom movement. The last evening of Gandhi ji’s life was also spent at Birla House in Delhi. Started with jute, then this family built textile mills, cars,
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aluminum, and newspapers. Every brick of independent India had ‘Birla’ written on it somewhere. But it wasn't one single dynasty. Four brothers had four branches, and over time, each branch had its own empire, its own court, and they had splits too, but in
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the Marwari way—behind closed doors, papers were divided in meetings of elders. The news never leaked out.
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Going to court was considered an insult to the family. Remember this. It will come in handy later. From G.D.'s branch came K.K. Birla with fertilizers and newspapers, and B.K. Birla with textiles and cement; B.K.'s son Aditya Vikram Birla and grandson Kumar
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Mangalam Birla, whose Aditya Birla Group is spread across the world today. Pause here and understand one thing.
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The Birla name isn't just one family. It is the sum of many branches. Aditya Vikram Birla, who was considered the most modern Indian industrialist of the '80s. He expanded the empire to Thailand, the Philippines, and Egypt. But he
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passed away from cancer at the age of 46. Kumar Mangalam Birla took over this massive group at less than 20 years old after his father's death. Today, he heads Hindalco, UltraTech Cement, Grasim, and Aditya Birla Fashion. An empire worth trillions. K.K. Birla had
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three daughters: Shobhana, Nandini, and Jyotsna. Shobhana Bhartia is the chairperson of HT Media today, the owner of the Hindustan Times; all this Birla universe is just different rivers of the same blood. But every river kept flowing in its own direction, and
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within this Birla universe, there was a small sub-branch. That of Rameshwar Das Birla, which remained a bit distinct from the glare of the other branches. A branch of religious simplicity, based on charity, and distinct—that of Rameshwar Das Birla. His son was Madhav
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Prasad Birla, M.P. Birla. Madhav Prasad created his own world: Birla Corporation, cement, Universal Cables, Vindhya Telelinks, jute mills, and a large portion of earnings went to charity. Kolkata's famous planetarium, Belle Vue Clinic, schools, temples. It is said that M.P. Birla considered
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money as a trust. Not his own, but society's; he lived with great simplicity. Far from religious showmanship, and one thing that is the axis of this entire story. He had no children. On July 30, 1990, Madhav Prasad Birla passed away, and the reins
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of the empire fell into his widow's hands. This was rare in Marwari families. A woman, all alone, the head of a multi-billion-rupee group, and standing right beside her was an advisor—a man of accounts. Picture this: South Kolkata, Gurusaday Road, a
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lush green compound behind high walls, Birla Park, old trees, vintage cars, and a lone woman in a massive house.
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Morning prayers, then files, trust letters, hospital papers, school accounts; in the evening, a visit to the clinic or the temple. It is said that people affectionately called her 'Badi Maa'. A white saree, minimal jewelry. It is said, her routine was
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like clockwork, the same paths, the same rooms. To the outside world, she was a massive name; in her inner world, only papers and memories. The dining table was long, but the chairs were empty. No son to sit with her, no
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daughter to ask how she was. An aging woman and an empire around her, but loneliness was not her weakness. It had become her character. There was a discipline within the house that the family's old guard still remembers. The
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servants were the same for decades, the driver the same, the cook the same. She did not like change. And it is said she would pick flowers herself for morning prayers at the temple. On every festival, she would have offerings
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prepared for the temple. Before giving bonuses on Eid, Diwali, or Dussehra, she would distribute sweets to the staff herself. Belle Vue Clinic, the hospital her husband built; she visited every week, checked on patients, met doctors, and paid for the poor's
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treatment out of her own pocket. The Birla Planetarium, the pride of Kolkata; school children would visit, and sometimes she would sit in the upper gallery watching them. A childless woman, yet surrounded by thousands of children—in schools, in hospitals,
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and perhaps in the planetarium. That is why she was called 'Badi Maa' (the eldest mother). Not a blood relation, but a bond of responsibility, and in her work, she was not weak at all. The Birla Corporation, whose sales were
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around 450 crore in 1990, crossed 1,000 crore under her watch. Quiet, but firm. Now understand how a chartered accountant becomes close to a family.
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In Marwari households, an auditor does not just check the accounts. He knows everything—taxes, trusts, shares, disputes, and secrets. A doctor knows your pulse. An accountant knows your vault, and for a lonely person, whoever picks up the phone daily becomes their
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own; trust grows like interest. With every sound advice, with every promise kept. Ten, 20, 30 years—Rajendra Singh Lodha, head of the well-known Kolkata firm Lodha & Co., had been on the State Bank board. He also became the president of FICCI, a major
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organization in the industry. The first chartered accountant to hold this chair, meaning not some anonymous bookkeeper. A personality. For decades, he remained the trusted advisor to this couple. First to the husband, then to the widow. Before every major signature,
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the one whose opinion was sought was him. And in 2001, Priyamvada made him the co-chairman of Birla Corporation.
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Meaning, three years before the will was opened, he was already inside the door. In front of everyone, not through some hidden path. And the relatives, the other branches of the Birla family, were busy in their own empires.
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Meetings only on festivals, the distance growing year after year. Although both sides argue over just h
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somewhere in between, but the real story was being written behind closed drawers. Two dates, a 17-year gap, and two completely different wills. Pause here for a moment and think. 2001 was no ordinary year for the Birla family.
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Because just a few months before, in 2002, Aditya Birla, son of group titan Basant Kumar Birla, had passed away from cancer. A wave of grief swept the Birla universe, and 20-year-old Kumar Mangalam suddenly had the weight of thousands of crores on his shoulders.
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In such an atmosphere, Priyamvada, head of the MP Birla Group, made Rajendra Singh Lodha the co-chairman. To outsiders, it seemed like a standard corporate decision. To those on the inside, perhaps it was something else, because by then, the will had already
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been changed. It had been registered two years earlier. But no one knew about it. On one hand, a public stage where Lodha was being officially elevated. On the other, a closed drawer where the future of the entire empire
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had been written. Both things were happening simultaneously. The Birla family didn't have a clue. And perhaps that is the most significant layer of this story. Whether it was betrayal or not, the court will decide. But one thing is clear: whatever was happening
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was happening quietly. Very quietly. Understand what a mutual will is. A husband and wife sit together. They write identical wills. First, caring for each other, and finally, the path for the wealth decided by mutual consent. A document of trust, a shared
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promise. On July 13, 1982, Madhav Prasad and Priyamvada made such wills. The goal was clear: after the surviving spouse, all assets would go to charity.
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Executors for society were appointed, including family members and close associates. A childless couple, faith in God, society as the heir to the wealth. The story could have ended beautifully here, but then came April 18, 1999, when Priyamvada signed a new
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will. A registered will, filed in a government office, stating: all my assets go to Rajendra Singh Lodha, he is the sole executor, previous arrangements canceled. Four years later , in 2003, a codicil—an addendum to the will—was added. It was said that
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it even included a provision for the legacy to pass on to Lodha's son after him. All this happened behind closed doors. It is said the family did not even get a hint. For five years, from 1999 to 2004, that paper stayed in its
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place while life went on. Pujas, files, board meetings—no one had the slightest idea. History has already been written. It just remains to be unveiled. July 3, 2004, Belle Vue Clinic, Kolkata. The very hospital her own husband had built. That was where
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Priyamvada Birla breathed her last. At the age of 76, the funeral took place. Rites were performed. The family gathered. Back then, no one had any idea. In just a few days, this same family would be standing in line at
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court. Nine days later, on July 12, Lodha reached the Kolkata High Court. With a 1999 will in his hand. Seeking probate, and exactly two days later, on July 14, K. K., Birla. B.K. Birla and others from the branches, all filed
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caveats in court. The meaning was clear : Wait, we object. The Birla family, divided into their own islands for decades, united overnight. Such unity had rarely been seen in this family, and standing against them was a lone accountant with a registered document
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in his hand. Do you understand what probate is? A will doesn't automatically grant property. The court verifies it. The signature is genuine.
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The person was in their right mind. They were under no duress. When the court puts its seal on it, that is called probate. Without probate, a will is just a claim. And until probate is granted, the heir is not an heir. They
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are merely a claimant. So, the Kolkata High Court became the battlefield for wills. The Birla family's claim was sharp. Priyamvada was elderly, alone, and the man closest to her had taken unfair advantage of her trust. This was the accusation; it was also said that
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the 1982 mutual wills were a promise. Everything was meant for charity. One could not back out of that promise alone. Remember, these are allegations and claims. The court has not proven them true to this day. The Lodha side’s response was just as composed.
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The will was registered. Priyamvada was not naive. She ran a business worth thousands of crores. And the most stinging question: during her 14 years of widowhood, which Birla came to check on her? Since when did choosing the man
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who stood by her in every difficulty become a crime? Two stories. One woman, and the truth went with her. Wait. Try to understand the scale. It was as if news broke this morning. That the entire empire of one of the country's
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biggest business families has been willed to their auditor. The Marwari community trembled. From drawing rooms to boardrooms, there was only one whisper. If this can happen to the Birlas, what will happen to us?
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Newspapers called it the Will of the Century. A queue of cameras outside the court, the country's most expensive lawyers inside; legends on one side, and legends on the other. Every hearing , headline, every date, a new chapter.
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Then came a flurry of lawsuits. Caveat petitions, appeals, counter-appeals; at one point, the count exceeded 110 cases . At every possible forum, from the Company Law Board to the Supreme Court.
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In 2008, the first major verdict came from the Supreme Court. The court stated that merely being a relative is not enough; one needs a legal right to stop a will. Most Birlas were out of the case, but the executors of the 1982
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wills could keep fighting; the battle remained alive. Only the pawns changed, and this is where the case was etched into India's law books. Even today, lawyers study it to understand who actually has the right to challenge a will. The scoreboard seemed to be
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tilting in Lodha's favor. The chair was theirs, the companies were theirs, and then news came from London. The year 2008 had started with Lodha in the lead . It ended with two funerals. In August , KK Birla passed away, one of the
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oldest generals of this war, without seeing the verdict on the will. And then, October 3, 2008, London, a heart attack; Rajendra Singh Lodha was no more. Think about it: the man who was willed a legacy of thousands of crores
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fought in courts for 4 years and left without seeing the seal of probate. Nature's justice sometimes works faster than the court, and what kind of a person was Rajendra Singh Lodha? Get to know a little about that, too. From a
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simple Marwari family in Rajasthan, he studied in Kolkata, earned a CA degree, and opened a firm. Lodha&Company gradually became counted among the most trusted auditors of Kolkata's Marwari houses. Simple lifestyle. A large, sprawling house in the Alipore area of
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Kolkata. His family included his wife and two children, son Harsh Vardhan and daughter Sunaina. When he became FICCI president, his picture appeared in newspapers across the country, smiling in a suit. But behind that smile was a growing legal battle: 4 years, over 100
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cases, morning-to-evening courts, arguments, dates, and newspaper headlines. A chartered accountant who had spent his life balancing ledgers left before seeing the biggest balance sheet of his life, but lawsuits do not die. Lawsuits are inherited. Now, the son, Harsh Vardhan Lodha, entered the
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stage; same profession, a chartered accountant. He received his father's chair. That of the Chairman of Birla Corporation, and his father's battle too. On the other side, the generation was changing too. But the files remained the same. The stubbornness
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remained the same. Think about this juncture. The woman whose will it was is no longer here. The one in whose name it was is no longer here. The oldest opponent is also no longer here.
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The legal battle was aging, and the court did something rarely seen in India's corporate history. It placed a watchman over an entire functioning empire. In 2012, the Kolkata High Court ruled that until the will was settled, Priyamvada’s estate would be managed
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by a court-appointed committee. A committee of administrators—in plain terms, until the owner is decided, the court acts as the caretaker. Think about it: cement factories are running.
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Thousands of employees, millions of tons of production, stock-listed companies, and the boss’s estate— all under the court's shadow, year after year. Then began the era of boardroom battles. The Birla side moved the Company Law Board. "Remove Harsh Lodha from his positions." The
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petitions were dismissed. Lodha remained firm, even in shareholder meetings. There is something worth noting here. Birla Corporation’s common shareholders were seen standing with Lodha time and again. For them, the issue wasn't about the family lineage. The issue was who was running
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the company better. In 2010, the Birla side filed another civil lawsuit. They claimed that the estate’s actual value was over 20,000 crores. Meaning, the longer the fight went on, the higher the stakes became. Then came September 2020, a bombshell from the
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probate court. The order: Harsh Lodha cannot hold positions in the estate-linked companies. Celebrations in the Birla camp; for the first time in 16 years, the tide seemed to turn.
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But this story never moves in a straight line. Lodha appealed, and higher courts provided him with relief.
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In 2021, his position was saved even by the Supreme Court. Then, in December 2023, came the big verdict from a Kolkata High Court division bench. The court stated that the estate's scope is limited only to the shares that were in
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Priyamvada’s own name. The probate court would only decide if the will is genuine or not. It is not the court’s job to decide who sits on the boards of companies and trusts, so Harsh Lodha can remain chairman. The Lodha side
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called it a major victory. The Birla side moved to the Supreme Court. In March 2024, the Supreme Court admitted the appeals for a hearing but did not issue a stay. The status quo remained.
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"Status quo"—perhaps the most honest word for this case. Everything has been in status quo for 22 years. Count them: the probate court, division bench, Company Law Board, Supreme Court—back to the same dispute on four levels simultaneously, and in the meantime,
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the characters kept fading away. July 3 , 2019: B.K. Birla passed away. Note the date. July 3 rd—exactly 15 years to the day, Priyamvada had passed away.
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None of the elders who started this fight survived to hear the verdict. But in all this noise, one question kept getting buried. Perhaps the most important question: what happened to the couple's charity? What was the true identity of Madhav Prasad and
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Priyamvada? Not palaces, not parties, but hospitals, schools, planetariums, temples. Both sides accept this point regarding the 1982 wills. Charity was at the center of it all. The Birla side argues that is exactly why everything should go to charity. This was their
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true intention. The Lodha side says the trusts and hospitals are still running today. They are growing. A large eye hospital was even opened in Priyamvada's name. The legacy is in safe hands. In other words, charity is both their shield and their sword. And
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perhaps that is the bitterest irony of this story. Two people dreamed of giving all their wealth to society, and that same wealth became the foundation of a conflict. No one keeps an account of India's longest legal battle. 22
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years of legal fees, hundreds of hearings, an army of lawyers. Think about how much money, time, and energy could have gone into hospitals and schools, and finally, the woman herself . Did anyone truly know what she wanted ? She always stayed away from headlines
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and never got the chance to clarify her will. The will was opened only after she was gone. Left behind were two documents—one from '82, one from '99 —and a silence now valued at 25,000 crores. And then, the calendar turned
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22 years. The situation today, July 2026, marks exactly 22 years since Priyamvada Birla passed away. And the fundamental question, is the will genuine or not? It is still in court today. The probate case is pending in the Kolkata High Court. Appeals are
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running separately in the Supreme Court . The courts themselves have said it. Such a long delay is not right. The case should be settled quickly. Harsh Vardhan Lodha is still the Chairman of Birla Corporation. In the last annual
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general meeting, he was telling shareholders about plans for factory expansion. Cement is selling, the company is growing. Media reports estimate the group's assets at around 25,000 crores. The next generation of the Birla family is fighting the case.
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Judges have changed, lawyers have changed, the arguments remain the same. The files are the same. Imagine, the young lawyer who stood up at the first hearing in 2004 has spent his entire career on this case. The journalist who
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went to write the first report has retired, and the case is still young. 22 years, over 110 lawsuits, two deaths of the claimants themselves, and the final verdict is still awaited. So, what do we learn from this story?
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India's business families build factories, banks, brands, and empires, but they fail to leave behind a clear, unambiguous will. And we have seen this before: Haldiram scorched in the fire of partition (Episode 18), Tata shaken in the boardroom battle (Episode 32). A
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will is just a piece of paper, yet empires are built and destroyed upon it . Whether Priyamvada Birla wrote what she wrote of her own free will or under influence, the court will decide, not us. But one thing is true even outside
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the court: a will is your final conversation with the world. If it remains hazy, then after you are gone, lawyers will speak on your behalf, perhaps for 22 years! And look in your own home, how many people have written
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a will? And for those who have, was it ever discussed with the family? We are afraid to talk about death, and this silence eventually becomes the court's fees. Now a question for you: is it right to leave everything outside the
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family in a will? Write in the comments . In the next episode...
Topics:Birla familyinheritance battlePriyamvada BirlaRajendra Singh LodhaIndian business dynastylegal disputewill contestM.P. Birla Groupwealth successionIndian corporate history
