‘Time heals everything…mutually decided to make division less painful…’

Although the two parties appeared visibly separated during the mediation,both Samarjitsinh and Pratapsinh are open to the idea of more family exchange. Pratapsinh said,“We will now have a home of our own in Vadodara in the form of Indumati Mahal and we will surely visit if they invite us.” Samarjitsinh said,“It is about time. Time heals everything.”

The end of the legal procedures to finalise the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the properties that make the legacy of the Royal family of Baroda,has brought much relief to both parties,say the cousins. Sangramsinh says that the family will retain their side of the royal properties and put them to best use for the good of Vadodara.

“I had been trying to resolve this issue for several years and now that it has come through,I will sleep peacefully,” says Samarjitsinh. He says he has not yet decided about the future of the properties now that the litigation is over. “We will take a call soon. We are taking one thing at a time,” he says. Although the property division has been done,Samarjitsinh has retained the lion’s share of the property. He refuses to comment on the issue of movable jewellery,but says that the Devasthan Trust,which was among the contentions during the negotiations,belong to him.

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‘Time heals everything…mutually decided to make division less painful…’

“After the passing away of my father,I am the sole presiding trustee of the Devasthan trust and that will remain as it is,” he says.

Pratapsinh says that the family is now looking forward to taking possession of the properties. “We have not yet decided if we will sell the properties. Right now we are only looking at the present,” Pratapsinh says. The family has decided to take possession of the properties,especially Indumati Mahal,which was once the devasthan of the family,on Thursday ? an auspicious day for Gaekwads. A smiling Pratapsinh says,“We are definitely looking to take possession immediately and Thursday would certainly be the best choice.”

Pratapsinh,who is said to have been instrumental in taking forward the negotiations with his cousin Samarjitsinh,says that the only way to come to a settlement was to ensure that the division is made “less painful” for everyone in the family ? one of the reasons why the camp agreed to the settlement that did not include the Laxmi Vilas Palace. “The property is close to everyone and so we mutually decided to make it less painful. We did not want to upset anyone in the family. We knew that the palace has been home for Samarjit and his family and so we did not want to enter the palace and hurt them. Similarly,our home in Mumbai was important for us and we have retained that,” says Pratapsinh. He says that the more important contentions were the family companies and businesses. Sangramsinh has retained the Baroda Rayon,the Gaekwad Investment Corporation (GIC) and the the Aulokik Trading and Investment Corporation (ATIC). Pratapsinh says,“The Baroda Rayon was always ours as we had the majority shares there. There was a litigation on the shares with the GIC and AITC,which has now been resolved and we have retained that.” He,however,refused to comment on speculations that Samarjitsinh has not parted with the family jewellery. “That is a very personal family matter. It is not part of this MoU,but the issue has been resolved,” he says.

Pratapsinh says that the settlement was made possible by mediators and influencing advisers of the family as well as lawyers. However,the willingness of the family to compromise did it. “We were certainly looking forward to resolving the dispute as it was best for both parties. The negotiations had begun six months ago although we had been trying to resolve the issue for the last five years. On many occasions we almost reached to a conclusion,but things went wrong.”

Pratapsinh says that the settlement of the Baroda royal family should certainly be an example to many other warring royalties. “They will hopefully follow suit and preserve their legacies by resolving their disputes.”