‘Usurping family legacy’: Why is Sunjay Kapur's company Sona Comstar in news days after his death

Terming her Sunjay's death "highly suspicious and unexplained circumstances", Rani Kapur said she has not received any details or documents regarding incident.

Rani Kapur, the mother of late billionaire Sunjay Kapur, has levelled a slew of allegations in a letter to the board of the Sona Comstar ahead of the scheduled Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday.

Rani Kapur called her son Sunjay Kapur's death as "highly suspicious and unexplained circumstances." (X/Sunjay Kapur)

The letter makes a series of allegations hours before the AGM, including one that she was "forced to sign documents behind locked doors" and that she was kept in the dark on the details regarding her son's death.

The development comes over a month after Sunjay Kapur died during a polo match in England on June 12. Several reports said Sanjay died of a heart attack after swallowing a bee during the polo match.

However, Sona Comstar on Friday went ahead with its AGM despite the postponement request by Rani Kapur, stating that she was not a shareholder of the company. The board stated that it has received all the statutory disclosures and declarations from Sunjay's wife Priya Sachdev Kapur, including her written consent to act as Director in Form DIR-2 and an intimation in Form DIR-8 confirming she is not disqualified under the Companies Act.

“Priya Sachdev Kapur was appointed as a Non-Executive Director based on a nomination received from M/s Aureus Investments Private Limited. Her appointment was duly reviewed by the Board’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee and approved by the Board of Directors of the Company,” a Sona Comstar statement said.

Sunjay Kapur's mother calls his death suspicious

Terming her Sunjay Kapur's death "highly suspicious and unexplained circumstances", Rani Kapur said she has not received any details or documents regarding the incident.

"I have been unable to receive any relevant answers and documents explaining the incident and have been confined to the knowledge and version set out by the media," she said in the letter, a copy of which surfaced on the internet.

Advocate Vaibhav Gaggar, who is representing Rani Kapur, said that Sunjay's death didn't look natural, adding that her mother has her apprehensions behind how things happened.

"She wants to get to the depth of the matter, and she is yet to know the exact cause of death...It did not seem to be a natural death at all. She has her apprehensions behind how things happened. AGM is a corporate matter that the company has called for," Gaggar told ANI news agency.

'Compelled to sign various documents'

In an emotional letter to the Sona Comstar board, Rani Kapur said she was coerced into signing such documents behind locked doors. She also said that she has been denied access to her accounts.

Without naming anyone, Kapur said, "I was approached multiple times and compelled to sign various documents without explanation or even having time to read and understand the same."

"Despite being under immense mental and emotional distress, I was coerced into signing such documents behind locked doors and though I’ve requested repeatedly, the contents of such documents have never been revealed to me," she added.

'Some usurping family legacy'

Kapur asserted that by the virtue of the will executed by her late husband Surinder Kapur, she is the sole beneficiary of his estate and accordingly a major shareholder of the Sona Group, including the auto component firm.

She also questioned the board's decision to appoint "certain people... as the largest shareholders."

She went on to accuse some people of taking control and usurping the family legacy, while the family is still mourning.

"I’ve been informed that certain people are representing themselves as being the largest shareholders of the Company since they claim to represent the interest of the family in the Company," she said.

Rani Kapur also said that she has not given any consent or nominated any person to come on the Board of the Company following her son's demise.

She added that no decisions should be taken without her consent, which could affect the role, responsibility and participation of the Sona group and family in Sona Comstar.

All About Sunjay Kapur and Priya Sachdev Kapur

Sunjay Kapur, a well-known industrialist, was the chairman of Sona Comstar, a company known for making auto components for electric vehicles.

He married actress Karisma Kapoor in 2003. In 2014, Karisma and Sunjay filed for divorce by mutual consent, and their divorce was finalised in 2016.

Sunjay married Priya Sachdev in 2017. The couple has a son named Azarias.

Sachdev, a Delhi-based socialite and model, is currently serving as the non-executive director at Sona Comstar and director at Aureus Investment, the Kapur family's investment firm, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She is the daughter of car dealer Ashok Sachdev and holds a degree in business management from the London School of Economics.