Sunjay Kapur’s will ‘bogus’, wife Priya like ‘Cinderella’s stepmother’: Karisma Kapoor’s children to HC

The market cap of Sona Comstar is close to Rs 30,000 crore — 72% of its shares are held by the public, and 28% (Rs 8,200 crore) are held by Aureus Investments Private Limited (AIPL), its corporate promoter.

Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, arguing on the behalf of the children, on Thursday claimed in the High Court that the will was first drafted in a MS Word file on February 10 with the last modification made on March 7. “According to them (Priya Kapur), Sunjay is making a will but storing it in Nitin Sharma’s (who signed as witness in the allegedly forged will and is reportedly an aide of Priya) device. And this Nitin Sharma is made the director of Aureus (Investments Private Ltd),” Jethmalani told the court.

“…Even as she scrambled to take control of AIPL before the ashes could be immersed, she became an MD (managing director) a day after the funeral on June 24, and Nitin Sharma was rewarded (for attesting as a witness on the alleged forged will), made a director of AIPL on August 2…The conspiracy the three (Priya, Dinesh Agarwal, another witness and an aide of Priya, and Nitin) were making by preparing, propounding and editing the will, it is a digital footprint of the criminal conspiracy… it is the most serious offence…This is a widespread conspiracy and there’s certainly enough material there to have a criminal complaint..,” Jethmalani argued.

Sunjay Kapur died on June 12 after suffering a heart attack during a polo match in the United Kingdom.

Jethmalani, further indicating the “suspicious” nature of the will that has been presented, pointed out, “No reason being given for disinheritance…that has not been done… Most importantly the mother (of Sunjay — Rani Kapur)… he is going to leave her penniless? I do know from, what I call a bogus will, (that) she’s being given nothing…what ungrateful son would do that whose mother is the source of the entire wealth?”

Referring to Priya’s conduct in relation to the will after Sunjay Kapur’s death, Jethmalani said, “She was in a tearing hurry..she kept writing letters..because at the back of her mind, she was very keen to appropriate the rest of the personal assets while restricting the children’s share to 26%…this is no benign stepmother, but a Cinderella stepmother if I may say so.”

During the proceedings, Justice Jyoti Singh questioned if the witnesses to the will filed affidavits, as is the usual procedure, to which Jethmalani responded in the negative. “No, it is a requirement of the law…The role of Nitin and Dinesh is not in the affidavit,” he told the court.

Justice Singh, meanwhile, also opened the sealed envelope containing the details on the list of assets of the late businessman, and observed that the document was not attested, signed or indexed. The court directed Priya Kapur to comply with the norms.

The High Court had last month allowed Priya Kapur to file the late businessman’s list of assets in a sealed cover. The parties locked in dispute in the partition suit said they would not leak the details to the media.

Meanwhile, also pointing to the lapses on part of Shradha Suri, the executor of the will, and a “close friend” of Sunjay, Jethmalani argued, “Defendant 4 (Suri) seems to be satisfied with the lapses, but not us as Class 1 heirs….(there are) Unimaginable errors (in the will)…The duty of an executor is also to find out if there are any other Class 1 heirs…duty is not to blindly accept a will propounded…Duty of an executor is very clear, she has to collect the assets, and if she deems fit, probate it.”