Kalyani family feud: Mediation efforts fail, legal battle continues

Mumbai: The Kalyani family feud remains unresolved after recent out-of-court mediation efforts failed, with Baba Kalyani's faction not participating in the mediation process. Last week, the secretary of the District Legal Services Authority, Pune, filed a report confirming the failure of the mediation.

During the process, the Pune civil court had stalled hearings. Now, with the mediation deemed unsuccessful, the suit filed by the niece and nephew of the Kalyani Group chairman will continue in court.

Sameer Hiremath and Pallavi Swadi, children of Baba Kalyani's sister Sugandha Hiremath, had approached the Pune civil court earlier this year, seeking a partition of the Kalyani clan's Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) assets.


However, in July, they informed the court they were willing to mediate with their uncle, expressing deep anguish over the mudslinging. The siblings' counsel told the court that Baba Kalyani's accusations against elder members of the family were disturbing and harming its reputation.

Baba Kalyani's lawyer strongly opposed the mediation option. However, the court granted the siblings' request and referred the case to the District Legal Services Authority, Pune for mediation.

Sameer and Pallavi claimed that the family's wealth was generated from the nucleus and funds of the joint family, which were then used to make other investments and start businesses, either by Annappa Narayan Kalyani-Baba Kalyani's grandfather-or his son Neelkanth Annappa Kalyani. Since these businesses and investments originated from the family's joint resources, they argued they should be considered joint family property. Seeking their "rightful share of the family's assets", Sameer and Pallavi had included several listed and unlisted companies under the Kalyani Group banner.

However, a spokesperson for Baba Kalyani said the siblings filed a baseless suit before the Pune court seeking partition of the alleged Kalyani family HUF properties. "Despite this, they later sought the court's permission for mediation. This request for mediation itself highlights the lack of merit in their partition claim. The petitioners have been engaging in malicious attempts to tarnish the reputations of certain family members..." the spokesperson added.

Following the mediation's failure, the siblings filed an application in court to resume the suit. In their application, Sameer and Pallavi said that Baba Kalyani's swift refusal spoke volumes about his attitude and "created apprehension in the plaintiffs' (siblings') minds regarding the mediation's potential success".