Pune: Hiremath Siblings Seek Mediation in Family Dispute with Industrialist Baba Kalyani

Reported by Mubarak Ansari & Tikam Shekhawat

Pune, 22nd July 2024: The ongoing dispute between the Hiremath siblings and their uncle Baba Kalyani took an interesting turn on Monday, July 22. Sameer Hiremath and his sister Pallavi Swadi expressed their willingness to mediate with their uncle, citing deep anguish over the mudslinging in court. Their counsel informed the court that Baba’s claims against the elders in the family were disturbing and damaging the family’s reputation.

Advocate Shailendra Aglawe, representing the siblings, tabled the option of mediation before Joint Civil Judge Senior Division SS Shinde. Baba’s counsel, Amit Agashe, vehemently refuted any talks of settlement or mediation. Eventually, the court accepted the request for mediation.

Earlier this year, the siblings approached Pune civil court seeking the partition of the Kalyani family HUF (Hindu Undivided Family). In response, Baba denied the very existence of any family HUF and asserted that the siblings had no right to any family wealth due to being the children of his sister, Sugandha Hiremath. He also claimed that their grandfather, Annappa Narayan Kalyani (ANK), was not a wealthy man, earning a mere Rs 2 salary per month and leaving only Rs 2 lakh to his son, Neelkanth Annappa Kalyani (NAK), at the time of his death.

The Hiremath siblings took offense to their great-grandfather being labeled a pauper by their uncle. In a reply filed in Pune court on Monday, Sameer Hiremath and Pallavi Swadi accused the industrialist, one of the richest in the country, of perjury. They stated that Baba lied under oath by making several false statements.

“In an attempt to oust the Applicants (siblings) from their rightful share in the HUF property, Defendant No. 1 (Baba) has gone to the extent of making false statements on oath, which amounts to perjury. It also portrays our great-grandfather, who was a man of repute and standing, and was conferred the title of ‘Raosaheb,’ in a poor light. Defendant No.1 has further brazenly denied the factual statements made by our grandfather NAK in his book ‘Forging Ahead’ about the ANK HUF and the joint family properties and the utilization of funds by NAK to set up businesses as a Karta from the returns on investment, profits of businesses, as well as the available funds with the Joint Family. Such false statements made by Defendant No. 1 discredit the statements made by his own father in the book and malign the reputation of the entire family,” the siblings’ reply stated.

They quoted excerpts from their grandfather Dr. Neelkanth Kalyani’s book, which mentioned that his father, ANK, left behind a fortune for his family, a running business worth Rs. 20 lakhs, besides land and house property, which would have been adequate to support the next couple of generations, even if they had preferred to sit idle.

The rejoinder also cited several partial partition deeds executed over the years to establish the existence of a family HUF.

The siblings expressed anguish over Baba’s claim that they are not coparceners in the family wealth by virtue of being children of a daughter. The statements made in Baba’s reply are “not only hurtful but also incorrect,” the rejoinder added. “The Applicants became coparceners in their own right in the Kalyani Family HUF upon the introduction of the amended Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act 1956, in 2005. The statements of Defendant No. 1 insisting that the Applicants do not belong to the Kalyani family are a classic example of the fact that even when the law has been amended to confer rights on women, it is the mindset of society that cannot accept such rights of the daughters and their children and still deprives them of their rightful share in the property. Defendant No. 1 cannot disregard the law of the land and the rights conferred upon the daughters and their children and apply his own interpretation to the same, which suits his interests,” the rejoinder stated.

The siblings reiterated that the wealth created by their great-grandfather, ANK, led to the growth of the Kalyani family. “All the assets, businesses, funds, and investments of the joint family, of which ANK was the Karta, constituted the nucleus of the said joint family. It is from this nucleus and funds of the joint family that other investments were made and businesses were started, either by ANK or later on by NAK. Since all these businesses commenced and the investments were made from the said nucleus, all these businesses and investments constituted the properties of the joint family,” the rejoinder stated.

They took offence to Baba’s statement that all he owns was built with his own efforts and wealth. “It is denied that Defendant No. 1 has built industries and companies with his own personal investments. Every single investment made in a company or industry is evidently out of the nucleus of funds generated by the Kalyani Family HUF,” the rejoinder stated.

The Kalyani group and family have several listed and unlisted companies under their flagship. The companies run by the Kalyani group alone have a market cap of around Rs 91,000 crores, of which around Rs 43,000 crores is with the promoters. This includes Bharat Forge, Kalyani Steel, BF Investments, BF Utilities, Kalyani Investments, and Automotive Axles. The siblings are seeking that Baba and all others should be refrained from dealing in any properties, assets, and shares owned by the family until their suit is decided.

Advocate Aglawe, speaking to the media on Monday, said, “The defendant (Baba) filed a reply in the case mentioning certain things about his grandfather. We found the reply to be in poor taste and extremely disturbing for the family name. Hence, we filed a rejoinder in court today denying all the hurtful statements. In order to prevent any further mudslinging in court, we suggested mediation to the court. We submitted an application to that effect. The court has agreed to refer the matter to mediation.”

In a statement, the Kalyani Group spokesperson said, “Having filed a frivolous suit before the Pune Local Court seeking partition of alleged properties of Kalyani family HUF, both Sameer Hiremath and Pallavi Swadi have now sought permission of the Hon’ble Court to permit mediation of the dispute. The proposal to mediate in the pending dispute itself demonstrates that both have no cause of action in filing the partition suit. Both petitioners have been indulging in making malicious attempts to defame certain named family members.”