Babu George Valavi of Kochi in Kerala forgot 43 years ago by buying 3500 shares, which are now worth Rs 1,448 crore. But now the company does not want to give them money. The 74-year-old Babu and his family members have taken the matter to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and have claimed that they are the original owners of the company's shares and the company is evading them in paying the amount. Babu expressed hope that he would definitely get justice from SEBI.
Babu George Valavi claims to have bought 3500 shares of Mewar Oil and General Mills Limited in 1978. At that time it was an unlisted company based in Udaipur, Rajasthan. Babu became a 2.8% stakeholder. The founding chairman of the company was PP Singhal and Babu's friends. The company was unlisted and was not paying any dividends, so the family forgot about their investments. Also, in 2015, he recalled and investigated this investment.
During the investigation, Babu came to know that the company has changed its name to PI Industries and has become a listed company. Babu tried to convert his shares into a Demat account and approached an agency. Also, the agency asked Babu to contact the company directly. The company told Babu that he was not a shareholder of the company and his shares were sold to someone else in 1989.
Babu alleges that PI Industries illegally sold his shares to someone else using duplicate shares. In 2016, PI Industries called Babu to Delhi for mediation, but Babu refused. After this, the company sent two senior officers to Kerala to examine Babu's documents. The company accepted that the documents with Babu were genuine, but they did not take any action, so Babu complained to SEBI.
