Pratap Bhogilal Journey Through Life

Author(s): Rauf Ahmed
Publisher: Bhupendra Singh Anand

Page 66

60 | PRATAP BHOGILAL - JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE
Controller of the RBI, Mr. Jejeebhoy (incidentally, the present Stock Exchange Tower in Mumbai is named after him) along with the Manager of the Mercantile Bank and explained to him the need to keep £15000 out of the surplus money in the London Branch of Mercantile Bank for claims and other expenses if any. The balance was to be remitted by the Mercantile Bank, London, to their Mumbai branch. We were granted the requisite permission on the condition that we rendered proper account of the London Bank receipts and remittences. The documents pertaining to that had been taken away by the accountant who had crossed over to the other side. We had been accused in the court of violating exchange control regulations and amassing wealth in England.
At that time we had only £5,000 in the head office of Mercantile Bank in London (which was later taken over by HSBC). But we had no documents to prove that most of the amount had been remitted to Karachi and the Mumbai branch of the Mercantile Bank on the basis of the written permission granted by the Reserve Bank of India 20 years earlier, in 1948. Our Counsel suggested that we get the documents from the Mercantile Bank. Fortunately, I knew the Manager of the Mercantile Bank well. I explained to him the situation and sought a copy of the RBI letter of 1948. Luck was on our side again. The paper we needed so desperately could be found in the archives of Mercantile Bank. We won the case and the Court's ruling allowing a company to buy back its own shares was a path-breaking one.
The phenomenal rise of Shree Ram Mills to be the best in Mumbai... and the sudden decline...
In the '60s, Shree Ram Mills was considered one of the most efficiently run textile mills in Mumbai. Till about 1966, we were the most profitable textile mill in Mumbai as well.
Shree Ram Mills had several'firsts to its credit.It was the first mill to modernise, having begun the process in 1944, and the first to have semi-automatic
Those who create wealth should be shown the greatest respect - Manmohan Singh