A fresh date now have to be obtained for the hearing after the chief justice appoints another jugde. The petition filed by M S Reddy, who is a close associate of UB Group and Herbertsons Chairman Vijay Mallya, against Kishore Chhabria and his companies alleges that all shares acquired by Chhabria are in violation of the SEBI takeover code.

Chhabria was given the 26 per cent shareholding in Herbertsons by Mallya in return of bringing BDA Ltd into UB's fold as a 100 per cent subsidiary. Subsequently, Chhabria acquired shares beyond this limit from the stock markets through his front companies. The Chhabria group now claims that they enjoy a majorityholding in the company. In response to Chhabria's acquisition, Reddy filed an urgent notice of petition in the high court.

The judge had earlier passed an ad-interim order stating that the votes (including disputed votes) cast in respect of resolutions at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company which was held on December 30, 1998 relating to removal of Mallya as the Chairman and five other directors be kept in separate covers and handed over to the court-appointed officer and not counted until further orders.