New Delhi: Actor Karisma Kapoor’s children approached the Delhi High Court Tuesday seeking a share in the property of their late father and industrialist Sunjay Kapur, who died in June after a bee sting-induced heart attack while he was playing polo in the UK.
Sunjay, 53, owned the automobile parts company Sona Comstar, had gotten married to the actor in 2003, with whom he shared two children, Samaira (21) and Kiaan (15). However, 13 years later, they got divorced by mutual consent in 2016.
Following his separation, in 2017, Sunjay married model Priya Sachdev, the former wife of actor-hotelier Vikram Chatwal, from whom she obtained a divorce in 2011. Kapur was previously married to Indian designer Nandita Mahtani from 1996 to 2000.
What the plea sought
Seeking a share in the 1.2 billion dollar estate, Karisma’s son and daughter approached the Delhi High Court, seeking a declaration that they are Class I legal heirs who should be entitled to shares in the personal assets of their late father.
Class I legal heirs in India, particularly under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, are the closest relatives who have the primary claim to a deceased’s property if they die without a will, and include the deceased’s sons, daughters, widow, and mother, among others.
They also sought to reject any reliance by his third wife, Priya, on any alleged will to deny them the relief, as the petitioners contended that Kapur had passed away intestate or without a will.
Karisma and Sunjay’s children also sought a decree from the court for partition while saying that they are entitled to 1/5th of the disclosed assets.
They further sought an injunction from the court which would restrain Sunjay’s family from alienating, transferring, selling or in any manner creating any third-party interests in any of his personal assets.
The story behind the dispute
Despite their divorce in 2016, the couple continued to provide their children with unwavering love and affection, as is natural for any parent, Karisma’s children stated in their petition before the court.
Family vacations, night stays, voice calls and regular meetings were commonplace between them, the plea said while pointing to examples of their vacations to England, Thailand, Spain and South Africa, among others. They also had WhatsApp groups, the children contended while explaining how they had designated rooms in Sunjay’s Rajokri home.
Festivals like Diwali were spent together besides weekends, holidays and other important occasions like Sunjay’s 50th birthday party. After Sumaira was admitted to university in New York, Sunjay even went to visit her, the plea said. Priya Kapur also accompanied him on several of these trips.
The plea also pointed out that in July last year, Sunjay took his son to show him parcels of land in the UK that he was acquiring.
The children claimed that their father took care of all their needs, from education to personal and travel expenses. Between April and May this year, Sunjay also told Karisma and their children that he had acquired assets in Europe and was applying for Portuguese citizenship for them.
His unexpected death came as a shock to Karisma and the children, the plea said, but they continued to show their unwavering support, flying to England, soon after his death and later to Delhi for his cremation.
After the chautha ceremony was over, a meeting was held at Taj Mansingh Hotel in New Delhi, to discuss the matter relating to Sunjay’s trust on 30 July, where his mother, Priya, and their legal advisers were also present alongside the executor of a ‘will’, his sister Shradha Suri Marwah.
The children were then informed that a copy of the trust deed would be provided to them later, but shortly after, Marwah briefly flashed a document in her hand from a distance and declared that it was the last will of Sunjay’s father, dated 21 March.
Marwah said she came to know about the so-called will only a day before their meeting, the plea added.
The plea added that Marwah then hurriedly read some parts of the alleged will to convey that the entire personal assets of Sunjay’s father were bequeathed to Priya, stating that the manner and speed with which she read out the document made it difficult to legally examine it.
When the children asked for a copy of this ‘will’, their request was rejected, and they were offered only a conditional inspection of the document, subject to their signing a confidentiality agreement. The children objected to this conditional inspection and, days later, approached the HC.
“The non-giving of the said document and further imposing conditions to even allowing its inspection added to the suspicious circumstances that the entire story has been concocted as an afterthought,” the petitioners said.
The plea also alleged that Sachdev had forged the supposed will of her late husband.
As interim relief, the children have sought the freezing of all personal assets belonging to Sunjay Kapur until the matter is resolved.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)