The bickering in the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur over control of two palaces has renewed barely two weeks after the death of queenmother Gayatri Devi,with her Thai grandchildren staking claim to the property. The counsel for Devraj Singh and Lalitya Kumari,children of late prince Jagat Singh and Thai princess Priyanandana Rankshit,have asked the Company Law Board for time to submit replies and rejoinders in separate suits pending before it. The suits relate to Rambagh Palace and Jaimahal Palace - now luxury hotels run by the Taj group and controlled by Gayatri Devis step sons Prithviraj Singh and Jai Singh. In the Rambagh palace matter,CLB Chairman S Balasubramanian has directed the management of the palace to file their replies by August 24. D K Malhotra,counsel for the grandchildren,contended that the step sons of the late queenmother had fraudulently transferred the majority stake of his clients late father in both the palaces. Both palaces are now under the ownership of a company incorporated under the Companies Act,1956. In the Jaimahal case,Malhotra informed the CLB that the reply has already been filed by the palace authorities and a rejoinder would soon be filed. In 2006,allowing a petition,the CLB had held that the petition filed by Devraj and Lalitya was maintainable.
