Bakshi-McDonald's row: Board may meet this week to take call on 169 stores

The role of the administrator of Connaught Plaza Restaurants Ltd (CPRL) is set to gain precedence in the battle between estranged partners Vikram Bakshi and McDonald's India Ltd (MIPL).

While the two fight it out and the matter IS slated for next hearing on September 21, Justice G S Singhvi, who is the administrator on the board of CPRL, will now decide on whether the 169 stores in the north and east of India can remain open till the time the matter is settled in courts. For this, a board meet is likely to be called this week, persons in the know said.

Justice Singhvi had deferred the matter on September 6, when the last board meet was held, asking both parties to wait for the outcome of the court hearing on September 7. Bakshi had said on September 7 that outlets would remain open, while MIPL had said that it would take steps to enforce the termination it had issued last month.

Justice Singhvi is now expected to hear what both sides have to say on the matter.

MIPL representatives, who have two seats on CRPL's board, had attended the September 6 board meet after giving earlier meetings a miss. Bakshi and his wife, the other two board members, have been in attendance all along.

Sources say it was Bakshi who had asked for a board meet to be called at the earliest after the matter pertaining to his plea regarding the termination of the licence agreement by MIPL in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) was deferred to September 21.