Abhinandan Lodha Accuses Brother Abhishek of Lying on Payment amid Court Case on Using Lodha Trademark
Moneylife Digital Team 24 January 2025
The family feud between two brothers, Abhishek and Abhinandan Lodha, has reached the court over using the Lodha trademark. At the same time, Abhinandan, the younger brother of Abhishek Lodha, has accused Macrotech Developers Ltd of issuing media statement with a false claim of giving him Rs1,000 crore. 
 
In 2015, the sons of Maharashtra minister and senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Mangal Prabhat Lodha agreed on a family settlement. Abhinandan parted ways from Lodha group and started House of Abhinandan Lodha Estate Holdings Pvt Ltd (HoABL). The separation in the Lodha family was formalised in 2017 through a family settlement agreement.
 
In a statement, a spokesperson of HoABL says, "A press release issued by the PR agency of Macrotech Developers stated that Abhinandan Lodha was given Rs1,000 crore. This is a lie which contradicts their own case in court filed last week, where they have attached the family settlement agreement of 2017, which clarifies that under all the awards and settlement documents, Abhinandan Lodha has received Rs429 crore and some apartments, all amounting to Rs500 crore. It is sad to see that a public listed company is trying to mislead the public through media."
 
The release from Macrotech Developers stated, "Initially, it was agreed that each family member would take some assets and some debt. However, at a later stage, Abhinandan (Lodha) insisted that he does not want to handle so many customers, debt and construction and, hence, wanted only money. As a result, Abhishek (Lodha) and his parents were left with Rs20,000 crores of debt and Abhinandan separated to start a new business with a payout of about Rs1,000 crores. Between 2015 and 2020, Abhishek Lodha and the family went through a 'near-death experience' due to this baggage of huge debt."
 
According to Abhinandan Lodha, by 2019, Macrotech Developers was under a severe funds crunch and the premium on international bonds spiralled, signalling an imminent default. He says, "My elder brother Abhishek and Macrotech Developers approached me and I gave loans in aggregate amounting to over Rs900 crore while the peak outstanding at any given point in time was Rs175 crore from my two companies Lodha Finserve and Lodha Ventures to Macrotech Developers."  

"I was constantly requested to help out and I worked tirelessly to refinance and help Macrotech Developers as recent as FY19-20 as bankers had refused to lend further to Macrotech without my involvement with my company's corporate guarantees of Rs250 crore and continuing personal guarantees in excess of over Rs2,000 crore. I further even mortgaged my own flat and raised funds to support Macrotech Developers. This is all a matter of record. All of this was done as a responsible member of the family and in the interest of the family," he added.
 
Last week, Macrotech Developers and Digirealty Technologies Pvt Ltd initiated a trademark infringement suit to restrain HoABL of Abhinandan Lodha from using the 'Lodha' trademark in any form. It contended that due to non-compliance with the 2017 agreement, the new agreement was signed between the two parties in December 2023, which expressly prohibited Abhinandan (Lodha) from using a name similar to 'Lodha'.
 
During the hearing on Tuesday, senior counsel Darius Khambata told the bench of justice Manish M Pitale that the suit seeks damages in the alternative worth Rs5,000 crore from HoABL and Abhinandan Lodha. Since he had an assignment of hearing suits claiming damages up to Rs100 crore, justice Pitale asked the parties to mention the matter before an appropriate bench. 
 
The matter was mentioned before the bench of justice Arif S Doctor. The HC kept the matter for hearing on 27 January 2025 and would decide whether an interim relief can be granted to Macrotech Developers.
 
Abhinandan Lodha says, "For a public listed company (Macrotech Developers) to borrow multiple times from an entity, request and use corporate guarantee for its loans and then today raise the issue of name confusion does not augur well for its corporate governance or shareholders. If at all, it shows total disregard for any prudent sense of disclosure."

"I continue to believe that family matters should not be settled in public. This is the reason I chose to maintain a dignified silence for over 10 years. I do hope that my family honours all the commitments made to me as I have delivered not only on all my commitments but also beyond whenever called upon to help with advice, time and money. My mother has had to be a bystander in this unfortunate episode," he added.
 
Earlier, Abhinandan Lodha told Hindustan Times that he is into plotted development and not high-rise buildings and largely operates in locations where Macrotech is not present, which was by choice. 
 
"Lodha Ventures and Lodha FinServ were given to me as part of the settlement process, and the understanding was that the Lodha name was not to be used on a standalone basis in real estate, and hence, we have our companies as Lodha Ventures, The House of Abhinandan Lodha-HoABL, which is our real estate arm and Lodha Finserve (non-operative now)," he told the newspaper.
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