Pune court refuses to pause Sugandha Hiremath's lawsuit in Kalyani family dispute

Sugandha Hiremath's brother, industrialist, Gaurishankar Kalyani, and his daughter, Sheetal Kalyani, had filed an application seeking a stay on the proceedings of the fresh partition suit claiming that it was similar to other pending lawsuits concerning the division of the Kalyani family wealth.

In Short

• Judge notes four family suits involve different parties, claims and properties
• Court's order says outcomes in separate cases would not trigger res judicata
• Gaurishankar Kalyani, his daughter had challenged Sugandha's latest suit

A Pune court recently refused to pause proceedings in a partition suit filed as part of the broader legal dispute within the influential Kalyani family over its ancestral fortune. The lawsuit has been filed by Sugandha Hiremath and seeks her share in the familial wealth, including assets linked to the Kalyani Group companies and other ancestral properties.

Her younger brother, industrialist Gaurishankar Kalyani, and his daughter, Sheetal Kalyani, had filed an application seeking a stay on the proceedings of the fresh partition suit claiming that it was similar to other pending lawsuits concerning the division of the Kalyani family wealth.

WHAT DID THE COURT SAY?

In two separate detailed orders passed on June 3, Joint Civil Judge JG Pawar refused to pause proceedings in Sugandha's suit. The court took note of four lawsuits concerning the Kalyani family fortune, including a suit filed by Sheetal, another by Sugandha’s children – Sameer and Pallavi, and two lawsuits filed by Sugandha herself in 2012 and 2025.

The court observed that in all four suits, the parties were not the same, the prayers sought were not identical, the causes of action were based on different grounds, and the properties involved were not identical, among other distinctions.

"Therefore, all these suits are not identical on the point of capacity of parties, title under whom they are litigating with each other. As such, the decision of each suit would not operate res-judicata against other suits. Therefore, matter in issue in present suit is not directly and substantially in issue in previously pending 03 suits," the order said.

Sugandha's suit alleges that her brothers, Gaurishankar and Baba Kalyani, control promoter shares of all Kalyani group companies. She has claimed that the duo have been selling, transferring and alienating the shares for a long time.

The suit further asserts that all the wealth currently held by members of the Kalyani family was created from a common family nucleus. According to the suit, Sugandha’s grandfather, Annappa Narayan Kalyani, created the initial wealth that was subsequently passed down to future generations.

The wealth left behind by him was inherited by his son, Dr Neelkanth Kalyani, a doyen of Indian industry, who went on to establish several flagship companies under the Kalyani Group banner.

WHAT SUGANDHA HIREMATH CLAIMS?

Sugandha's suit claims that after her father's death, Baba Kalyani and Gaurishankar Kalyani took control of most of the companies under the Kalyani Group banner. She has stated in her suit that she was assured by her brothers that her rights would be protected and, therefore, never questioned their intentions until later.

Through her suit, Sugandha is seeking her share in several movable and immovable properties, including stakes in 250 companies in which Kalyani family wealth has been invested. This includes several listed Kalyani Group companies such as Bharat Forge, Kalyani Forge, and Kalyani Steels, among others.

During the pendency of the suit, Baba Kalyani has maintained that there is no Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) within the Kalyani family. Gaurishankar Kalyani and his wife, Rohini, on the other hand, have been accused of transferring several family properties into their names over the past several years.

Sugandha has previously initiated criminal proceedings against Gaurishankar in Maharashtra's Karad, alleging that her younger brother transferred several properties to his own name. She has also joined proceedings originally filed by her father against Gaurishankar and Rohini before a court in Karad.

- Ends