The recent election of President of Nag Vidarbha Chamber of Commerce (NVCC) Ashwin Mehadia (Agrawal) seems to have waded into troubled waters with as many as 11 past presidents of the traders body challenged the validity of the post.

Highlighting that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) is yet to de-flag the Director Identification Number (DIN) of Mehadia, which is mandatory for becoming director in any company registered under Companies Act 2013, the past presidents have urged the board of directors of the traders’ body to recall the all the decisions of the annual general body meeting (AGM) in which Mehadia was elected President.

Mehadia was elected President of NVCC for the third consecutive time in the 77th annual general meeting.

In a letter written to the traders body on November 23, the past presidents including - Govindlal Agrawal, Ramesh Mantri, Praful Doshi, Shrigopal Soni, Murlidhar Surjan, Radheshyam Sarda, Suresh Bhojwani, Hemant Khungar, Nilesh Suchak, Jagdish Bang and Dipen Agrawal have sought corrective steps in this regard within seven days.

The past presidents have also said that they will take up the matter before appropriate forum if NVCC fails to act.

The Registrar of Companies (ROC) had blocked the Director Identification Number of Ashwin Mehadia under Section 164 (2) of the Companies Act. 2013 for five years which made his appointment as President of NVCC invalid, said the group of past presidents.

In addition, the former heads of the body representing more than 13 lakh traders across the Vidarbha region, also alleged that Mehadia illegally presided over the executive body meeting on November 25 and postponed the 77th AGM scheduled on November 27.

Eventually, the AGM was held on November 15 in which Mehadia was elected President for the next one year along with other office-bearers. However, the past presidents alleged foul play in the process of conducting the meet and said that NVCC should hold fresh elections in a free and fair manner.