Priyamvada Birla's will left a Rs 5,000 crore group to her accountant; the Birla family has fought it in court since 2004

Madhav Prasad Birla died in 1990, and his widow Priyamvada became chair of the M.P. Birla Group. She died on 3 July 2004. Rajendra Singh Lodha, her accountant and co-chairman, produced a will of 1999 leaving him assets valued at about Rs 5,000 crore. The Birla family says that in 1983 she and her husband made mutual wills leaving the estate to charities and the M.P. Birla Foundation. Lodha became chairman of Birla Corporation in 2005. The Birlas opposed his probate application in the Calcutta High Court. Lodha died in October 2008, and his son Harsh Vardhan Lodha took his place. The court put the estate under administrators pending the case. In September 2020 a single judge barred Harsh Vardhan Lodha from holding office in the group or benefiting from the estate. In July 2021 the Supreme Court told the High Court to decide the appeals by 31 March 2022. On 14 December 2023 a division bench let him continue as chairman and stopped the administrators from interfering in day-to-day operations. In March 2024 Justice B.V. Nagarathna recused herself from the Supreme Court appeal. By the last reports found, the probate of the 1999 will had not been decided^†.