New Delhi: Rani Kapur, mother of late Sona Comstar chairman Sunjay Kapur, has joined his children with ex-wife and actor Karisma Kapoor in challenging the validity of his Will before the Delhi High Court. She argued that she had been entirely excluded from the estate and sought a status quo on his assets.
During Wednesday’s hearing over the disclosure of the Will filed by Karisma Kapoor’s children, Rani Kapur’s counsel stated that Rani Kapur, a Class I heir, has been completely excluded from the purported Will and the RK Family Trust.
Under Indian succession law, Class I heirs include the deceased’s spouse, children, and mother, all entitled to inherit by default.
Justice Jyoti Singh asked Rani Kapur’s counsel to formally file a reply and directed disclosure of all of the late chairman’s assets.
The court asked all parties to submit their responses within two weeks and listed the matter for 9 October, when it is expected to decide whether to maintain a freeze on the assets until the dispute over the Will is resolved.
“There is something incredibly unholy in the way this has been done. Ten thousand crores worth of estate, which otherwise ought to be mine—and I’m concerned," Vaibhav Gaggar, senior advocate, said, quoting Rani Kapur.
"Now I’m 80 years old…I’m concerned for my seven grandchildren... I am the person who has to make sure everyone gets it. Everyone’s excluded,” the plea said.
Three of the heirs are directly linked to Sunjay Kapur: his children with Karisma Kapoor, Samaira and Kiaan; his son with Priya Sachdev Kapur, Azarius; and Safira, Priya’s daughter from a previous marriage, who is treated as part of the family. There are three children from his sister Mandira Kapur’s side.
"For the sake of everyone’s sanity here, there needs to be a status quo on the assets,” the counsel added.
Rani Kapur’s counsel also claimed she had sent at least 15 emails seeking details of the Will, the RK Family Trust, and other assets, but received no response.
“Not once has anything been shared… I’m being told that my emails have been compromised. So I go on video and say—sorry, this is me who is asking for it, not shared,” the counsel added.
Karisma Kapoor’s children, Samaira and Kiaan, had moved the high court challenging a Will that allegedly bequeaths the entire estate to Sunjay Kapur’s third wife, Priya Kapur. The Kapur family has been embroiled in disputes since Sunjay Kapur’s death on 12 June 2024.
Meanwhile, lawyers for late business tycoon Sunjay Kapur’s wife, Priya Sachdev, informed the high court that Karisma Kapoor’s children, Samaira and Kiaan, were allotted assets valued at ₹1,900 crore through the RK Family Trust.
Rani Kapur was the first family member to oppose Priya Kapur’s control of Sona Comstar’s promoter entity, Aureus Investment, and her appointment to the company’s board. On 24 July, she wrote a letter opposing the appointment and raising concerns over events following her son’s death in London.
As per filings, Rani Kapur had transferred her ownership of shares in Aureus in 2017 to a trust called RK Family Trust, which governs the entire shareholding in Sona Comstar.
The current case, however, filed by Karisma Kapoor’s children, focuses on Sunjay Kapur’s personal assets, which Priya Kapur claims are governed by a Will dated 21 March 2024.
According to the petition earlier accessed by Mint, Samaira and Kiaan have demanded a one-fifth share each of their father’s personal estate, claiming they were not provided a copy of the Will despite repeated requests. The Will allegedly leaves all of Sunjay Kapur’s personal assets to Priya Kapur.
The plea states that the Will came to light during a meeting on 30 July at Taj Mansingh Hotel, attended by Priya Kapur, her legal advisors, Shradha Suri Marwah, and other executives of Aureus Investment Pvt. Ltd., the promoter entity of Sona Comstar. It remains unclear whether the Will was officially registered.
The petition names Priya Kapur, her son Azarius Kapur, Sunjay’s mother Rani Kapur, and Shradha Suri Marwah, managing director of Subros and executor of the Will, as defendants. Two directors of Aureus Investment Pvt. Ltd., Dinesh Agarwal and Nitin Sharma, are also named for allegedly colluding with Priya to transfer personal assets in her favour.
