Vadodara’s royal Gaekwad family ends inheritance dispute
An agreement was signed by the scions of the erstwhile Baroda state for withdrawing the cases against each other and the division of the property
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Ahmedabad: A long-drawn battle that lasted for nearly 23 years involving property inheritance at one of India’s erstwhile royal families ended on Wednesday, with the estranged members of the Gaekwad family settling the dispute at a local court in Vadodara.
An agreement was signed by the scions of the erstwhile Baroda state for not only withdrawing the cases they had filed against each other over the years but also for division of the property, said two people close to the development. They declined to be named.
Samarjitsinh Gaekwad signed a deal with his uncle Sangramsinh Gaekwad to end the dispute over property worth thousands of crores. The deal has brought to an end a legal battle that began in 1990 between sons of the last king of Baroda Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad, Sangramsinh and late Ranjitsinh Gaekwad, father of Samarjitsinh.
The ancestral property includes palaces, gold, diamonds and other jewellery, paintings and real estate.
Sangramsinh, his wife Asharaje, their son Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad and daughter-in-law Pragyashree Gaekwad met Samarjitsinh Gaekwad and sisters of late Ranjitsinh earlier this week for final negotiations.
As per the deal, Samarjitsinh, who was last year crowned in a traditional ceremony of the Gaekwad family, got Laxmi Vilas Palace along with a huge chunk of real estate around it, paintings, diamonds and gold and silver jewellery, said one of the two unnamed persons quoted earlier. The sisters and siblings of late Ranjitsinh got some real estate within the Laxmi Vilas Palace compound.
Samarjitsinh did not respond to phone calls made on his mobile.
Sangramsinh has got real estate properties in Vadodara Indumati Palace, Ashok Bungalow, Nazarbaug Palace, Atul Bungalow and a few other properties, including the property at Juhu in Mumbai where he currently lives with his family, he added.
Lakshmi Vilas Palace, an extravagant building of the Indo-Saracenic school, was built by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III in 1890 and it was designed by Major Charles Mant who was the architect. The building, which today has a sprawling golf course, is reputed to have been the largest private dwelling built till date and four times the size of Buckingham Palace. At the time of construction, it boasted the most modern amenities such as elevators and the interior is reminiscent of a large European country house.
Spanning over two decades, the legal battle was taken to various judicial and corporate forums, including the Vadodara civil court, the Company Law Board (CLB), the Gujarat high court and the Supreme Court.
Samarjitsinh, who got a lion’s share in the deal, also got three of the most precious diamonds in the world—the Star of the South, Akbar Shah (which Mughal emperors wore on their headgears) and the Empress Eugenie. Mint could not contact Sangramsinh.
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