HC directs businessman Sunjay Kapur’s widow to preserve his assets

THe new delhi heights margaret court on th directed the tardily businessman Sunjay Kapur’s widow, Priya Kapur, to preserve the assets he had held after his children with actor Karishma Kapoor, Samaira and Kiaan, cited suspicious circumstances regarding the will under which he allegedly bequeathed his entire estate to their step-mother.A bench of Justice Jyoti Singh noted that the genuineness of the will would be determined after a trial, which is likely to take time, and pending adjudication, the assets must be preserved and not dissipated. She said that if the assets were depleted and Priya Kapur ultimately failed to prove the will’s validity, the children, along with their grandmother, Rani Kapur, would be deprived of their claimed shares.The court restrained Priya Kapur from alienating, transferring, pledging, or otherwise dealing with equity shareholdings in three Indian companies, withdrawing provident fund amounts, disposing of personal artworks, or withdrawing funds from three accounts in two Indian banks, except to meet liabilities towards the children under the divorce decree. It barred her from operating foreign bank accounts and from selling, transferring, or otherwise dealing with cryptocurrency assets.The court did not pass any order regarding the immovable properties abroad. It said that plaintiffs have made a prima facie case regarding the assets in the subject matter that need to be protected, preserved, pending the disposal of the suit. A detailed copy of the verdict is awaited.The verdict was passed in Samaira and Kiaan’s suit seeking a one-fifth share of their father’s property. The suit said that Priya Kapur produced the will for the first time at a family meeting on July 30, without any prior disclosure of its existence.They sought the share, alleging that Priya Kapur, in conspiracy with Nitin Sharma and Dinesh Agarwal, the attesting witnesses, had fabricated the document under “suspicious circumstances”. The petitioners accused Priya Kapur in the courtroom of “forging” the will and being an “acute gambler.”The will, they claimed, was modified when Sunjay Kapur was in Goa with his son Kiaan. The petitioners contended that the document was filled with “glaring errors,” pointing out that the name of Priya Kapur’s son, Azarius, was misspelled four times, the addresses mentioned were incorrect, the required schedule was missing, and even a feminine pronoun was used to refer to Sunjay Kapur in the will.Priya Kapur asserted that leaving the entire estate to one’s wife is a “healthy” tradition in the Kapur household. She added Sunjay Kapur’s father had bequeathed his entire estate to his wife, Rani Kapur.Azairus told the court that Karishma Kapoor’s children had moved court seeking a share in their father’s estate only after securing their interests under the family trust.On Monday, the Supreme Court encouraged the parties to explore mediation in the ongoing inheritance dispute. It issued notice on Rani Kapur’s plea seeking protection of the estate and restraint on alleged interference with assets of the Sona Group. A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Vijay Bishnoi observed that a prolonged legal battle, particularly involving an octogenarian litigant, would serve little purpose.Sunjay Kapur, the chairperson of Sona Comstar, died of cardiac arrest while playing polo in London on June 12 last year. He was first married to designer Nandita Mahtani, and later to actor Karisma Kapoor. After the divorce, he married model-actor and businesswoman Priya Kapur in 2017.