In an affidavit filed on Monday in the civil court of Pune, Kalyani said that Sameer Hiremath and Pallavi Swadi cannot ask for any partition of the assets or wealth owned by any Kalyani joint family entity.
“The plaintiffs (Hiremaths) and the defendants (Kalyanis) do not have any common male ancestors. Consequently, they (Hiremaths) can never be part of the same coparcenary,” said Kalyani’s affidavit—a rebuttal to the claims filed in a suit last month by the Hiremath family scions, demanding partition of wealth held by the Kalyani joint family.
The Hiremaths and Kalyanis are entangled in a bitter dispute over shares of pharmaceutical firm Hikal Ltd and the assets owned by certain Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) of the Kalyani joint family through scores of real estate properties and gold jewelry.
Mint has reviewed a copy of the affidavit.
Baba Kalyani,75, has argued “the basis of a Hindu coparcenary is common male lineage—which basis has not been changed by the 2005 Amendment Act”.
According to the Kalyanis’ affidavit, while daughters, within the Hindu law, may be deemed to be coparceners in an HUF, such a “deeming fiction” is not extended to the children of such daughters.
“The children of the female coparcener cannot become the coparceners of their maternal grandfather’s HUF, since they are born in their father’s family and not in the family of the maternal grandfather,” argued Kalyani.
Baba Kalyani has also stated that he has no alleged intention of taking over any properties of any alleged Kalyani Family HUF.
And, since the Hiremath siblings are not part of any Kalyani family entity, no question of depriving them of any rights to the joint family properties even arises in the first place, the affidavit said.
A Kalyani group spokesperson declined to comment stating the matter is sub-judice, while queries sent to the Hiremath family remained unanswered.
An escalating feud
The feud between the two families, which began after Sugandha’s brother, Baba Kalyani, refused to transfer Hikal shares in her name, worsened after her children, on 20 March, filed a petition against Baba Kalyani, his son Amit Kalyani, brother Gaurishankar Kalyani, Gaurishankar’s children Sheetal Kalyani and Viraj Kalyani, and their mother Sugandha Hiremath in the Pune court.
The petition demanded a partitioning of the assets and businesses under the Kalyani Family HUF, which is said to own significant stakes in large companies and substantial real estate assets, especially in Pune, Karad and Satara districts in Maharashtra.
In their suit, the Hiremaths apprehended that there are imminent chances the Kalyanis will deal with the assets of the Kalyani Family HUF during the pendency of the suit and due to which the Hiremaths may suffer “grave irreparable loss and tremendous hardship”.
Moreover, the Hiremaths said as the summer vacations are coming up, the Kalyanis may take advantage of the same and create third-party interests in the assets of the Kalyani Family HUF.
The Hiremaths’ petition showed that apart from holding promoter stakes in Bharat Forge and other family-owned firms, the Kalyani Family HUF owns stakes in dozens of large listed heavyweight firms including Hindalco Ltd, Bajaj Auto, Bank of Baroda, Kirloskar Cummins Ltd, and Ceat Ltd.
While Bharat Forge alone has a market cap of ₹57,731.44 crore (as on 7 May), the HUF, according to the Hiremaths, also holds bonds of large companies and owns assets in the form of large land parcels, buildings and has dozens of proprietorships.
The shares of Bharat Forge, Kalyani Steels Ltd and Kalyani Consultants Pvt. Ltd have always been a part of and formed the corpus of the Kalyani Family HUF, said the Hiremaths.
The Hiremaths had asked the court to direct the Kalyani family to stop dealing in the properties under Kalyani Family HUF and disclose all the assets held by the family entity.
The Kalyanis have urged the court to dismiss the suit altogether.
The Hiremath siblings asked the court to order a partition of the Kalyani Family HUF and declare that Sameer and Pallavi are jointly entitled to 1/9th share of each part of the wealth of the joint family entity.
In the latest court filing, the Kalyanis said if the “wide and far-reaching” reliefs as prayed for by the Hiremaths are granted, it would enable the latter to go on a “fishing expedition with the internal documents of the Kalyani family using the court machinery for their baseless demands”.
Sameer and Pallavi had claimed that the assets of the joint family have extended to real estate, gold, bank deposits, and so on, including a “Yerawada Pune Plot”.
Baba Kalyani has now denied that the assets held by him or the businesses under him constitute the property of any alleged joint family.
The Kalyanis argued on Monday that Sameer and Pallavi have no right to file and maintain a suit seeking partition of wealth owned by any Kalyani joint family entity.
They said that there is no HUF by the name Kalyani Family HUF, while arguing that the Hiremaths’ suit is “vague and devoid” of any material particulars.
According to the Kalyanis, the suit is filed by the Hiremath siblings, who by birth are members of “one Hiremath family” and coparceners of an HUF of the Hiremath family.
The Kalyanis have termed the Hiremaths’ suit as an attempt to try and “usurp rights in assets and properties of the alleged Kalyani Family HUF”.
“It is submitted that plaintiffs have no locus standi to file the present suit and the same ought to be dismissed at the threshold on this ground alone,” added the affidavit.
Arguments by the Kalyanis
According to the Kalyanis, the suit merely states an alleged Kalyani Family HUF exists and then proceeds to list out certain properties which are alleged to be HUF properties.
The Kalyanis have said there is no description given in the Hiremaths’ suit to identify the properties as required by law.
Based on this, the Kalyanis have argued that such “self-serving averments” by the Hiremath siblings are not sufficient to bring all the properties (owned by the Kalyani family) set out therein within the purview of the partition suit.
The affidavit also alleged that the Hiremaths are guilty of suppression of certain material facts.
The Kalyani family said while the Hiremaths have, in an innocuous looking ‘Annexure D’ to the Suit, disclosed the pendency of the 2014 Partition Suit, they (the Hiremath siblings) have failed to disclose that the 2014 Partition Suit pertains to the same subject matter as the present Suit (i.e. the partition of the alleged ANK HUF and the NAK HUF).
The Kalyanis have argued that not only does such alleged “material suppression” and “falsehood” warrant dismissal of the present Suit, but it also belies the claims made in the present suit and disentitles the Hiremaths from claiming any interim reliefs.
“… the Plaintiffs malafidely and as an afterthought decided to file the present suit, only to lay an ill-founded claim over assets and properties in which they have no rights whatsoever,” said the affidavit.
“Plaintiffs have no right or entitlement to initiate any suit for partition in respect to any HUF formed within the Kalyani Family,” added the affidavit.
The feud between the Hiremaths and the Kalyanis began after Sugandha’s brother, Baba Kalyani, refused to transfer Hikal shares in Hiremath’s name—something that was allegedly promised to the Hiremath couple, according to a 1994 note by Kalyani’s father.
As Hikal’s co-promoter, Kalyani entities hold about 33%. Complaining that the Kalyanis breached the agreement, the Hiremath family moved the Bombay High Court in April, seeking a transfer of Hikal shares held by Kalyani entities.
Baba Kalyani, in his latest affidavit, denied that he has an “authoritarian and/or noncooperative attitude or that such alleged attitude led to disputes within the family”.
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Published: 07 May 2024, 10:00 PM IST