The families of Bharat Forge chairman Baba N. Kalyani and his sister Sugandha Hiremath have been locked in a battle over shares of Hikal Ltd for long.
On 20 March, Sugandha’s children Sameer Jai Hiremath and Pallavi Anish Swadi filed a petition against Baba Kalyani, Amit Kalyani, Gaurishankar Kalyani, Sheetal Kalyani, Viraj Kalyani and Sugandha Hiremath in the court of civil judge, senior division, Pune, demanding a partitioning of the assets and businesses under the Kalyani Family HUF, that owns significant stakes in large companies and substantial real estate assets, especially in Pune, Karad and Satara districts in Maharashtra.
The petition showed that apart from holding promoter stakes in Bharat Forge and other family-owned firms and their subsidiaries, the Kalyani Family HUF owns stakes in dozens of large bluechip firms including Hindalco Ltd, Bajaj Auto, Bank of Baroda, Kirloskar Cummins Ltd, Ceat Tyres Ltd and others. The HUF also holds bonds of large companies and owns assets in the form of large land parcels, buildings and has dozens of proprietorships.
The Hiremaths’ petition said the shares of Bharat Forge Ltd, Kalyani Steels Ltd and Kalyani Consultants Pvt. Ltd have always been a part of and formed the corpus of the Kalyani Family HUF. Moreover, the joint family holds shares in many other firms. The Hiremaths 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 petition claimed that there are substantial assets under the HUF, and a part of the income from the assets under Kalyani Family HUF may not have been accounted for in the books yet.
Mint has a reviewed a copy of the petition, which is not public.
“It is submitted that, due to the authoritarian and non-cooperative attitude of Baba Kalyani in managing the affairs of the joint family, differences arose between the joint family, thereby resulting into filing of certain litigations in different courts,” said the petition by the Hiremaths.
Sameer and Pallavi are the children of Sugandha and Jai Hiremath, and Baba Kalyani (elder brother of Sugandha) is the so-called karta (manager) of the family HUF. Interestingly, the Hiremath siblings have included their mother as a defendant.
Responding to Mint’s query, a spokesperson representing the Kalyanis denied receipt of any legal suit from the Hiremath siblings. “We are in receipt of your email query. We have not been duly served any alleged suit as yet. It is therefore premature on our part to comment on any assertions/ allegations made therein on us.”
“The allegations which have been referred are factually incorrect, misconceived and is a malicious attempt with ulterior motives. Various assertions made contradict the petitioner family’s stance in other legal proceedings and are devoid of any locus standi,” the spokesperson for the Kalyanis said.
Queries sent to the Hiremath family remained unanswered.
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 a 1/9th share of each part of the wealth of the joint family entity. The Hiremaths asked the court to direct Baba Kalyani and his son Amit Kalyani to disclose the details of all the assets under the main family HUF.
The siblings cited a section of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 and asked the court to declare them as “coparceners” (rightful members) in the Kalyani Family HUF.
While demanding a partition of the family wealth, Sameer and Pallavi said the joint family’s businesses were originally either in the form of companies or shareholdings in different firms, but now, the assets have extended to real estate gold, bank deposits and so on.
The petition claimed that other immovable properties, which are controlled by Baba Kalyani, have been purchased using joint family funds and are therefore, are the property of the main HUF. The Kalyani Family HUF also owns a large part of the valuable so-called “Yerawada Pune Plot”.
The Hiremath duo alleged that following the demise of Sulochana Kalyani (Baba and Sugandha’s mother) in February 2023, Baba Kalyani, instead of giving effect to the writings that were executed from time to time, has, in a “complete volte-face, refused to have any further discussions”, and the Hiremaths apprehend that he will “take over all the assets of the Kalyani Family HUF and deprive Sameer and Pallavi of their respective shares as members”.
“A significant part of the joint family funds has been utilized over the years to invest and form several entities, purchase assets and create further substantial assets and wealth. Baba Kalyani alone does not and cannot have a right to the same,” said the Hiremaths.
Sameer and Pallavi said they were compelled to file the lawsuit after Baba Kalyani on 29 December 2023 refused to partition the HUF’s assets.
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.
Later, the board of Hikal rejected a proposal to reappoint Baba Kalyani as a director, despite his 21 years of association with the firm.
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Published: 27 Mar 2024, 07:00 AM IST