The Bombay High Court refused interim relief to the grandchildren of Vijaypat Singhania, chairman emeritus of Raymond Group, who have challenged an agreement whereby their right to the family property was given up by their father.
Singapore-based Raivathari, Tarini, Rasaalika and Ananya had urged the High Court to direct all the concerned parties not to deal with the properties in question till their suit was decided.
However, Justice Gautam Patel dismissed the application.
The High Court would decide their main suit in due course.
The agreement in question pertains to a 1998 settlement between Dr Vijaypat Singhania and his estranged son, Madhupati Singhania, the plaintiffs’ father.
Madhupati and his wife left the family home in Mumbai 16 years ago and settled down in Singapore.
According to the plaintiffs, while parting ways, Madhupati signed an agreement giving up his as well as his minor children’s rights to the family property.
The plaintiffs want this agreement to be invalidated, saying it is “malafide, illegal and arbitrary and was made only to safeguard Dr Singhania.”
The suit contends that the ancestral rights of grandchildren couldn’t have been given up on their behalf when they were minors. Guardian of the property of a Hindu minor must seek permission of a court before transferring it or relinquishing it, it says.
Soon after the agreement, the suit says, Madhupati’s younger brother Gautam was made the chairman and managing director of Raymond Limited. While their father struggled to make a living and provide his family basic amenities in Singapore, Gautam and his family lived a life of luxury in Mumbai, it alleges.
