New Delhi: Long before the Maldives speedboat accident put him back in the spotlight, Raymond chairman Gautam Singhania had become well known for toxic personal feuds. Public spats with his father over a reneged promise that left the senior Singhania virtually homeless, allegations of hitting his wife and minor daughter and attempts to block a tell-all book—have kept the industrialist in headlines that often eclipsed the legacy of one of India’s oldest apparel brands
In the latest episode, Gautam Singhania returned to Mumbai after a speedboat he was operating capsized off Felidhoo Island in the Vaavu Atoll in Maldives on Thursday. Two of his passengers are still missing and one is critically injured. His love for speed and adventure sports well known, Singhania was out on a late-night speedboat ride with six others.
The two missing men are both legends in their fields—Hari Singh, a five-time national rallying champion; Arjuna awardee for yachting and former naval officer Commander Mahesh Ramachandran. Both were believed to be working for firms that belong to the larger, divided Singhania family.
The search for Singh and Ramachandran is still underway, a source close to Singh’s family confirmed to ThePrint. “We are searching for his body with the help of the coast guard and the police,” Singh’s family friend told ThePrint.
Amidst adverse social media comments and speculation around the sequence of events in Maldives, spokesman for Singhania told ThePrint that the accident was result of a “mechanical failure”.
“There is speculation being spread on social media regarding an unfortunate speedboat accident involving a serious mechanical failure. It is disconcerting to note the irresponsible nature of comments circulating with total disregard for the facts,” the spokesman said in a statement to ThePrint.
“Gautam Singhania continues to recover under due care and is closely monitoring and supporting the ongoing search operations. We continue to pray for and support the friends and families of those affected,” he further said.
When asked to comment on the two family feuds involving Gautam Singhania, his spokesperson refused to comment.
Father gifted him empire, he ‘went back’ on promise
Having taken over as managing director of the Raymond Group from his cousin in the 1980s, Vijaypat Singhania told a Mumbai court in 2018 that he nurtured the Raymond brand from Rs 100 crore to Rs 5,000 crore over three and a half decades. Then, in February 2015, he “gifted” his son, Gautam Singhania, his entire shareholding in J. K. Investors and Smart Investment Company, which held about 38 per cent of Raymond Limited’s shares, making Gautam Singhania the managing director of the textile behemoth.
However, the relationship soon turned sour when Singhania senior moved the Bombay High Court, alleging that his son had gone back on a 2007 agreement, that assured Vijaypat Singhania, and the widow and two sons of his brother Ajaypat Singhania a duplex each in JK House, a family property that belonged to the firm of which Gautam had become MD thanks to his father’s “gift”.
The property in question is a 36-floor high-rise building in Mumbai, spread across more than 2 lakh square feet, valued at approximately Rs 6,000 crore.
In August 2017, the high court suggested that the father and son should have resolved the dispute amicably, without the matter reaching court.
Although the matter was closed in court in February 2018, the dispute between the father and son never ended.
Later that year, Gautam Singhania moved a Mumbai court asking it to prevent his father and Penguin Random House India Private Limited from publishing his father’s autobiography.
Gautam Singhania had argued before the court that he had “substantial reason to believe” that his father’s autobiography would “violate his and his family members’ privacy”. A civil court had documented that Gautam Singhania had argued that “if the defendants (his father and publishers) are not restrained by an order of injunction, grave loss, irreparable harm and injury would be caused to him and his family members, which cannot be compensated in terms of money”.
The senior Singhania was quick to remind the court of the long history of Raymond, stating that the “Raymond Limited company is almost 100 years old and (existed) at least 40 years before the plaintiff was even born. The general public identifies the company’s forming the group with defendant no. 4 (Vijaypat) and not the plaintiff (Gautam).”
The Mumbai Civil Court refused to issue a gag order prohibiting publication of the autobiography, a decision later overturned by the Bombay High Court. However, a senior bench of the High Court then lifted the stay, and the autobiography, called ‘An Incomplete Life’, was published in 2021.
Forced to live a destitute life by his standards, the senior Singhania had advice for all. “No matter how much you love your children, do not give away your wealth during your lifetime,” an emotional Vijaypat Singhania had told The Times of India in February 2024.
Allegations of domestic violence
Days after the country celebrated Diwali in November 2023, a video went viral on social media, purportedly showing a woman shouting outside the Singhania family’s palatial house in Mumbai.
A few days later, on 16 November, Gautam Singhania announced his separation from his Parsi wife Nawaz. Singhania requested privacy, but what followed attracted even more public and media scrutiny.
Nawaz alleged that Gautam had assaulted her and their minor daughter and she had filed a report with the police for domestic violence. In an interview with Business Today, Nawaz alleged that Gautam Singhania had assaulted them over a trivial issue—the use of a washroom.
However, she insisted she did not wish to get the complaint converted into an FIR.
As the matrimonial dispute progressed, Nawaz reportedly sought a 75 per cent stake in the Rs 11,000 crore Raymond empire. Reportedly, the couple settled for a more “realistic” separation agreement after 32 years of marriage.
With the search for sport icons Hari Singh and Commander Mahesh Ramachandran continues and scrutiny mounts over the circumstances of the Maldives accident, the latest episode has once again placed Gautam Singhania in the media spotlight—adding to a long trail of family feuds, courtroom battles and personal controversies that has repeatedly overshadowed the Raymond legacy.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)