The Delhi High Court has granted interim protection over the estate of late industrialist Sunjay Kapur in a suit filed by his & Actress Karisma Kapoor’s children, Samaira and Kiaan Kapur, observing that the Will propounded by Priya Sachdev Kapur is surrounded by “suspicious circumstances” and cannot be relied upon at the preliminary stage.
Justice Jyoti Singh noted that the plaintiffs, children of Karisma Kapoor and Sunjay Kapur, had raised several serious questions regarding the execution, custody and authenticity of the alleged Will dated March 21, 2025, under which Priya Kapur was made the sole beneficiary of Sunjay Kapur’s personal estate.
The Court recorded allegations that Priya initially informed the family that no Will existed, but a purported Will surfaced later during a meeting at Delhi’s Taj Mansingh Hotel. The plaintiffs also pointed to alleged inconsistencies in the Will, including spelling errors, unexplained modifications, disputed signatures, gaps in the chain of custody, and the exclusion of all other Class-I heirs, including Sunjay Kapur’s children and mother, Rani Kapur.
Observing that the burden to dispel suspicious circumstances lies on the propounder of the Will, the Court held that the document would require strict proof during trial. It further noted that if the estate was dissipated during the pendency of proceedings and the Will was later found invalid, irreparable prejudice would be caused to the plaintiffs and other heirs.
Accordingly, to preserve the estate during the pendency of the suit, the Court passed the following interim directions against Priya Sachdev Kapur:
1. Priya Kapur was restrained from alienating, transferring, pledging, liquidating, or otherwise altering equity shareholdings in AIPL, BRS Finance and Investment Company Pvt. Ltd., and JTEKT India Ltd.
2. She was restrained from withdrawing amounts lying in the Employees’ Provident Fund account, which contained deposits of over ₹5.22 crore.
3. The Court barred alienation, sale, transfer, or pledge of Sunjay Kapur’s personal effects, including watches, jewellery, and artworks.
4. Priya was restrained from withdrawing or transferring funds from specified HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank accounts. The Court permitted withdrawals only “to the extent of discharging liabilities” towards the education, travel and marriage-related expenses of Samaira and Kiaan under the divorce decree between Sunjay Kapur and Karisma Kapoor, subject to filing quarterly statements before the Court.
5. The Court restrained operation of foreign bank accounts, including accounts with JP Morgan Chase Bank and HSBC UK, without prior permission of the Court.
6. A complete restriction was imposed on sale, transfer, or movement of cryptocurrency assets, including transfer to another wallet.
Appearances
Petitioner- Mr. Mahesh Jethmalani, Senior Advocate with Mr. Saurav Agrawal, Mr. Adhiraj Harish, Mr. Ravi Sharma, Mr. Akhil Sachar, Mr. Shantanu Agarwal, Ms. Madhulika Rai Sharma, Mr. Manas Arora, Mr. Syed Hamza Ghayor, Ms. Ananya Garg, Mr. Tapojit Sarker, Mr. Anjani Kumar, Ms. Prachi Dubey, Ms. Mehak Joshi, Ms. Samayra Adhlakha, Mr. Tushar Nair, Mr. Shivam Mishra, Ms. Sunanda Tulsian and Mr. Prafull Kumar, Advocates.
Respondents- Mr. Rajiv Nayar and Ms. Shyel Trehan, Senior Advocates with Ms. Meghna Mishra, Mr. Ankit Rajgarhia, Mr. Tarun Sharma, Mr. Rohit Kumar and Mr. Prabhat, Advocates for D1. Mr. Akhil Sibal, Senior Advocate with Ms. Meghna Mishra, Mr. Ankit Rajgarhia, Mr. Tarun Sharma, Mr. Rohit Kumar, Mr. Krishnesh Bapat, Ms. Janhvi Sandhu and Mr. Aditya, Advocates for D2. Mr. Vaibhav Gaggar, Senior Advocate with Ms. Smriti Churiwal, Mr. Jaiveer Kant, Ms. Vidisha Jain, Ms. Meher Thapar, Mr. Akash Kumar and Mr. Dhruv Dewan, Advocates for D3. Ms. Anuradha Dutt, Ms. Divya Bhalla and Mr. Raghav Dutt, Advocates for D4.
