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‘Based on guesswork’: What Priya Kapur's 6-year-old son told court on plea by Karisma's kids
Appearing for the six-year-old boy, senior advocate Akhil Sibal argued there was no delay in producing the will.
Amid the ongoing estate dispute involving late industrialist Sunjay Kapur, the minor son of Sunjay and Priya Kapur told the Delhi High Court that the challenge filed by actor Karisma Kapoor’s children against their father’s alleged will was based entirely on “speculation and guesswork.”
The boy, aged six, was represented by senior advocate Akhil Sibal, who argued that there was no delay in producing the will.
He said Sunjay died on June 12 and the executor presented the will at a meeting on July 30. It was “a matter of just a month and not a delay of years,” he reportedly told Justice Jyoti Singh.
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‘Speculative and guesswork’: Minor's lawyer
Calling the plaintiffs’ case speculative, Sibal, representing Priya Kapur's minor son, said, "Their case is that on July 30, the executor reads it out hurriedly, slashes a document, and reads it out selectively. At that point, they admittedly know three things -- date, witnesses, and that they are excluded.”
He added that after the July 30 meeting, Karisma Kapoor’s children did not send a single communication seeking a copy of the will. The first request came on August 22, he said.
“In between, the mother (Karisma Kapoor) of the plaintiffs readily communicates with defendant 1 (Priya Kapur) to get all the paperwork finished. She is asking for the documents, and defendant 1 is cooperating... They don't get the copy of the will as they refused to sign the confidentiality agreement,” Sibal said.
“They are excluded, and they know the legal strategy is to challenge the will, whether the will is genuine or not, they must challenge,” he argued.
Sibal submitted that the plaintiffs could have simply filed a suit alleging suspicion over the will since they had not received a copy. “But they knew they were excluded, so they had to challenge it (will) come what may,” he said.
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Priya Kapur on Sunjay Kapur's will
Addressing claims about Sunjay Kapur’s foreign assets, he argued that the plaintiffs had not made out any case and that the issue fell under foreign jurisdiction.
He also maintained that there had been no discord within the family during Sunjay’s lifetime, saying, “there was no disaffection between the parties as long as Sunjay was alive, and everyone used to meet each other with kindness.”
A day earlier, Priya Kapur had told the court that it was a “healthy tradition” for a husband to leave all his assets to his wife, rejecting the allegation that the will surfaced under suspicious circumstances.
The court is hearing the suit filed by Karisma Kapoor’s children, Samaira Kapur and her minor brother, who have contested the authenticity of their father’s purported will involving assets reportedly worth ₹30,000 crore.
The matter is listed for further arguments next week.
The bench is also considering an interim injunction plea filed by the children seeking to prevent Priya Kapur from alienating them from Sunjay Kapur’s assets.
Sunjay Kapur died on June 12 after collapsing during a polo match in England, reportedly due to a sudden cardiac arrest.
