Real estate honcho Gopal Raheja (79),embroiled in a bitter court battle with his son Sandeep,has stated in a rejoinder filed in the Bombay High Court that Sandeep and his wife Durga are prolonging the case as they are waiting for him to die. Raheja also claimed that Sandeep is trying to usurp his Rs 11,000-crore empire. .Sandeep and Durga refuse to talk,refuse to go for mediation or try and resolve the dispute as they are waiting for the time when I am no longer there, he stated in his 100-page rejoinder to Sandeeps reply to the suit initiated by his father. The HC had earlier suggested that the family feud should be resolved amicably. The rejoinder dated October 25,however,stated that Sandeep and Durga believe that I do not have long to live and thereafter they will try and grab everything. It stated,They are fully aware that at my age,I may not live to see the outcome of long drawn out legal proceedings. Thus,the refusal to mediation. In September,Raheja had filed a suit against over 30 defendants,including Sandeep,Durga and her parents Shyam and Bindoo Wadhwani,who Sandeep had purportedly appointed to the board of three companies belonging to the Raheja group. Raheja had alleged that he was being ill-treated by them and denied medical care as they wanted to grab his companies and assets. Sandeep,in a reply filed through lawyer Vivek Vashi,had stated that Raheja had filed the suit against him as he had objected to his fathers desire to marry a Brahmakumari half his age. Raheja said in his rejoinder that Sandeep made these allegations only to embarrass me and pressure me into giving into his unlawful and dishonest claims. This is a bogus story brought up by Sandeep and Durga. I deny that I have any purported infatuation with the said Brahmakumari. The legal battle also questions the validity of the GL Raheja Family Arrangement that Sandeep said was drawn up by his father after their fallout in June. Raheja,denying it,said it existed since 1996 and doesnt hold water. The case is likely to be heard in the second week of November.
