Bombay High Court orders Vijaypat Singhania to respond to property plea

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Monday gave Dr Vijaypat Singhania, chairman emeritus and owner of Raymond Ltd, time till April 15 to respond to the petition filed by his four grandchildren seeking their share of ancestral family assets. The matter will now come up for hearing on April 20. Four children of Madhupati and Anuradha Singhania, Ananya (29), Rasaalika (26), Tharini (20) and Raivat Hari (18), had approached the court challenging a family agreement, where their father Madhupati , Vijaypat’s elder son , had given up his as well as his children’s rights over ancestral properties. The grandchildren are seeking their rights to the family wealth, which includes the iconic Raymond brand and other movable and immovable assets. Four of them have made their parents , Madhupati and Aradhana , and Vijaypat party to the suit, saying that their grandfather doesn’t have the right to take away their ancestral rights.

Also, they have appointed their maternal grandfather Devkumar Aggarwal as a constituted attorney, which means he can take all legal decisions on their behalf. According to the suit, the agreement between their parents and grandfather was nothing but a forcible relinquishment deed, wherein their parents were compelled to give up everything they owned. "Three daughters and a son of Madhupati have moved court to cancel an earlier family agreement (entered in 1998) that relinquished their rights to the ancestral property," said a person closely connected with the case.

"The grandchildren feel that they too have a right to the properties, and that it can't be denied by their parents through an agreement." The Singhania siblings have filed suits in the Bombay High Court in early February. In a strange coincidence, around the same time , on February 9 , Vijaypat transferred about 37.17% stake in Raymond to his youngest son Gautam Hari Singhania. The Singhania family , father-son duo of Lala Juggilal and late Lala Kamlapat Singhania , started their business in 1918 which later came to be known as ( JK Group). Currently, apart from textile and apparels, the group has business interests in consumer products, engineering and chemicals. The Raymond stock ended up 0.99%, to close at Rs.458.30, at the BSE on Monday.