The Delhi High Court on Friday allowed Priya Kapur, widow of late businessman Sunjay Kapur, to submit a list of his assets in a sealed cover, in the ongoing legal tussle with Karisma Kapoor’s children over their share in their father’s estate, Bar and Bench reported.
Priya Kapur had earlier requested permission to submit her late husband’s asset details in a sealed cover. The High Court on September 10 had ordered Kapur to submit a list of all movable and immovable assets of Sunjay Kapur.
The court on Friday ordered all the parties involved in the case to include Priya, Samaira, Kiaan, and Sunjay’s mother, Rani Kapur, not to disclose any information about the case to the press.
Priya Kapur’s request for NDA denied by court
Kapur had sought a confidentiality agreement before revealing details of her late husband’s assets and had requested Delhi HC that a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) be signed by Sunjay’s mother, Rani Kapur, and the children of Karisma Kapoor, before she discloses the information.
Justice Jyoti Singh, however, had expressed strong reservations on Thursday saying such an order “may be problematic” because it could deprive the children of their right to question disclosures. “How will you file a written reply and argue cases if everything is in sealed cover?” she asked. “If they are bound by confidentiality, how will they ever defend their case?”
Priya settles for sealed cover submissions
Kapur subsequently agreed for sealed cover submissions instead, a mechanism that shields sensitive documents from public scrutiny while allowing access to the parties involved.
Justice Singh ordered that an inventory of Sunjay Kapur’s movable and immovable properties be submitted to the court and shared with his mother Rani Kapur and his children from his first marriage.
The court emphasised that heirs have an unquestionable right to know the details of an estate they may be entitled to. “They have no issues disclosing the assets. All that was said, let this not be made public. You have the right to know,” Justice Singh noted.
Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, representing Samaira and Kiaan, stressed in court: “According to this patently bogus will, I have been deprived of everything. Two accounts have been wiped clean and 6% share has been appropriated. For me, there is nothing confidential. What is there to hide?”
What the order said
“After canvassing the arguments, it is agreed that a list of assets of movable & immovable properties will be filed in court in a sealed cover & the same will be served to all the parties in the case,” LiveLaw quoted the order as saying.