Lodha Vs Lodha: New Front Opens Up In War Between Builder Brothers
Macrotech Developers has alleged that House of Abhinandan Lodha has engaged in fraud and forgery. The latter has denied these allegations.
A new war front has opened up between Abhishek Lodha's Macrotech Developers and his brother's House Of Abhinandan Lodha. In an exchange notification, Macrotech Developers has alleged that House of Abhinandan Lodha has engaged in fraud and forgery. The latter has denied these allegations in a statement of its own.
The allegations range from forging board resolutions of Macrotech Developers, signature of one of its independent directors, along with the picture on his PAN card. The allegations also state that the board of two entities under House of Abhinandan Lodha approved and procured a change in their corporate names to the names starting with ‘LODHA’ from the relevant government authorities, using these documents.
Macrotech Developers said that it has appointed a special committee of directors to look into the matter and will take appropriate legal action against House of Abhinandan Lodha.
"Mr. Abhishek Lodha has requested not to be part of this Committee and the same has been accepted," the exchange notice said.
In a statement, House of Abhinandan Lodha said that it is "internally looking into the matter" and will come out with a detailed response.
"Suffice it to state that the House of Abhinandan Lodha does not admit any of the allegations of fraud and forgery sought to be attributed to us," a spokesperson for House of Abhinandan Lodha said.
Lodha Vs Lodha
At the core of this saga is a fight between the two brothers on legal rights to use the 'Lodha' brand name. Elder brother Abhishek Lodha sued Abhinandan Lodha claiming that the latter had no right to use to the brand name for his construction business.
This is on the basis of two agreements between the brothers, one in 2017 and the next in 2023, which allow only Abhishek Lodha and Macrotech Developers to use the brand name. The agreements were the result of a family business split in 2017.
The younger brother has said that the restriction is only on the use of Lodha as a standalone name. As a result, the companies were named "Lodha Ventures," "The House of Abhinandan Lodha" (which serves as the real estate arm), and "Lodha Finserv" (currently nonoperative), according to a statement in January.
A case is still being heard at the Bombay High Court in the matter.
In this latest salvo, Macrotech Developers has claimed four key points.
Certain HoABL entities have used purported board resolutions of Macrotech Developers containing a no objection for use of the company’s trademarks and filed the same with government authorities. Macrotech Developers' board held no such meeting on the date stated in these BRs and the company’s board has never considered or approved such BRs in any of its meetings whatsoever.
Such BRs filed with the governmental authorities have signature of company’s one independent director. This signature is not his signature and is significantly different from his true signature.
To support their application, PAN card copy of the said independent director was attached. On comparison against the actual PAN card of the said independent director, it is seen that his signature and photograph have been changed.
The said independent director has also confirmed that he has not certified any such BRs, the signature on the said BRs is not his, and the PAN card copy attached is different from his actual PAN card.
"The board of directors of the company in its meeting dated April 2, 2025 has perused the relevant documents and taken serious cognizance of the conspiracy to use fabricated documents in order to misuse the company’s goodwill, brand, and registered trademark," the exchange notification said.
