Mallya v/s Chhabria, Battle Finally Ends

Bangalore:  The long standing dispute over ownership of India’s largest selling whisky brand, Officers Choice came to an end. Liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya and Kishore Rajaram Chhabria settled the dispute as Mallya finally agreed to give up his ownership claims over Officer’s Choice and rival company Allied Blenders & Distillers (ABD) in which Chhabria owns over a 95 percent stake.

The sudden decision took everyone by surprise as Mallya was too involved in clearing legal cases of United Spirits before passing on a sizeable stake in his flagship company to British drinks giant Diageo. Chhabria cashed on this opportunity to take charge over his fast-growing brand Officer's Choice from a web of litigation, which guarded its development plans for years.

Officer's Choice cast out Bagpiper of United Spirits as the largest selling whisky last year. Mallya is only benefitted with a small consolation price of just under $2 million, after the settlement of the two decade old dispute. A United Spirits executive on condition of anonymity said, "We have settled all disputes with Kishore Chhabria group companies. Nothing comes or goes free in life. So there's a price tag to it which we cannot disclose," as quoted by Times of India.