Minority shareholders question appointement of UPL chairman R Sampath

MUMBAI: Minority shareholders have questioned the appointment of chairman and managing director at Ultramarine and Pigments (UPL), a small-cap speciality chemicals company. R Sampath, who completed 70 years of age last November, still continues to be the chairman of the company without seeking shareholder approval for his appointment, said investors.

The new Companies Act makes it mandatory for companies to seek shareholder approval through a special resolution for board appointments in case if any of the directors being appointed have completed 70 years of age. The company, however, said that some shareholders and one of its board members were running a campaign against the CMD who has led the company for 25 years.

Recently, Reliance Industries and Hindustan Tin Works sought shareholder approval for re-appointment of directors on their boards who had touched 70 years of age.

In its reply to shareholders, who questioned the appointment of Sampath as UPL's chairman, the company pointed out that UPL's joint managing director S Sridhar in February, 2015, filed a case in the Bombay High Court regarding the same matter.

Replying to an email query by ET, UPL said that some shareholders close to Sridhar were writing to the company. The joint MD and the same shareholders, who have written now, had even filed a petition on the matter with the Company Law Board (CLB). The CLB judge dismissed the case and observed that the claims and petitions of Sridhar were motivated, made with ulterior motives, UPL said.