In the midst of the ongoing battle between Raymond Group chairman and Managing Director estranged wife, Nawaz Modi, following the announcement of their divorce, the two are once again embroiled in a bitter settlement.
Nawaz Modi Singhania has been been recently removed from her positions at the privately held Raymond group companies, JK Investors (Bombay), Raymond Consumer Care (RCCL) and Smart Advisory & Finserve where she served as Chairman of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and as a member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee of Raymond.
However, Nawaz Modi did not take this lying down. She filed a complaint with JK Investors (Bombay) and Smart Advisory & Finserve Pvt. Ltd at Ballard Estate on April 25, questioning her removal from their boards.
In an Interview with India Today, Nawaz Modi stated, "Under the company's law, you will find that there are a variety of ways by which a director can be removed. No black mark on my report, no not attending meetings, not conducting fiduciary and other obligations and roles, no arms length interactions, etc. being questioned out there. So, he (Gautam Singhania) is really not had a leg to stand on there. His claim for removing me is that the major shareholder promoter has lost confidence, the words are 'lost confidence' in Nawaz Modi Singhania.
"And fair enough, I've been calling out his misdeeds, I've been calling out the mismanagement, I've been calling out the fact that he's not been performing his fiduciary role and he uses the company as his own, as even his father called it out, personal fiefdom, so that doesn't suit him," she added to the India Today interview.
"Today we have three EGMs for my removal. One at JKI, Bombay Limited, Holding Co. One at Smart & Finserv, Limited again at Holding Co. Both are private limited companies and one at RCCL, which is a public limited company but not scripted, in Aurangabad at 4pm. Straight after these meetings end 12 noon is the last meeting here to make sure that I'm not able to get there because connectivity, etc. is not there," she added.
"Even all the AGMs are always conducted in Ratnagiri. Why is that? I've been with him for 33 years. It is because people are not able to get there. Shareholders are not able to get there. There is no direct flight. The roads are difficult. There are no places to stay, half decent standing, or restaurants to eat at, etc. they make it as difficult as possible," Nawaz Modi added.
Gautam's father has also pointed out about his, as his father calls it, 'Bindi bazaar tactics' of strong-arming people and physically getting them out, throwing them out, added Nawaz Modi to the India Today interview.
The talks between Singhania and Modi fell apart when Modi reportedly asked 75 per cent of Singhania's USD 1.4 billion wealth after their split. Nawaz, Singhania's ex-wife, denied this claim, saying she only asked for 25 per cent for each of their daughters. She also mentioned that Singhania's father supported her in the dispute against his son.
