CHENNAI: Proxy votes that were not polled for the Tamilnad Mercantile Bank’s hotly contested board elections at its Annual General Meeting on Friday, due to disputes, will be polled on Tuesday.
B Prabhakar, of Pioneer Asia Group and a long time board member of TMB, stated, contrary to what was reported, Pioneer Asia Group’s supporters had not indulged in any illegal voting.
Instead, they stated that the two persons authorised by some of the shareholders to exercise their voting rights had submitted the necessary forms to TMB Ltd, and after due verification had gone to the voting hall to cast their proxy votes.
However, they allege they were assaulted by musclemen and police had intervene and take them to the Tuticorin South Police Station for safe custody.
The two persons were casting their proxy vote in accordance with the rules and regulations, said the company in a statement.
“The entire AGM process was completed under the chairmanship of Justice R Balasubramanian (Retd), except for the verification of some of the disputed proxies, and the voting process for the election of the Board of Directors was completed on Friday,” said B Prabhakar, Pioneer Asia Group. The chairman, he added, had announced that he would allow the rejected proxies to cast their vote on Tuesday.
Further, Prabhakar stated that there had been no changes made to the system of polling. “The procedures for proxies are governed by the Companies Act, and no changes could have been made here,” he said.