Mumbai: The bitter battle between the members of the royal Scindia family of erstwhile princely state of Gwalior has seen some fresh developments.
The property dispute, which began somewhere in 1985, took a new turn on Tuesday when the Bombay High Court refused a request made by Jyotiraditya Scindia seeking to strike off the fresh written statements of his paternal aunts.
Congress leader and heir of the royal family, Jyotiraditya, who claims to have a share in the immovable properties of his father Madhavrao Scindia, had challenged the fresh statements of his four aunts led by Vasundhara Raje Scindia. He claimed that his aunts have retracted from their earlier stance in the family's property dispute.
The immovable and movable properties of the Scindia family were left intestate by erstwhile ruler Maharaja Jivajirao Scindia. The properties were initially divided equally between his widow Vijayaraje and his only son Madhavrao after she filed a suit in the Bombay HC, way back in 1984.
Both mother and son had 50 per cent shares in the large number of immovable properties, spread across India.
According to Jyotiraditya, his four aunts had initially agreed to the shares and had accepted huge number of movable assets, including costly jewellery. He claimed that his aunts had in 1985 had affirmed on an affidavit that they do not have any share in the properties.
But the former Rajasthan chief minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje, along with her sisters Usharaje, Yashodharaje and Padma Raje, filed a fresh written statement before a trial court claiming their individual shares in the properties.
Terming this as illegal, Jyotiraditya petitioned a bench of Justice Ramesh Dhanuka seeking to strike off this statement from the records of the trial court. He contended that this "inconsistency" in the stand of his aunts is an abuse of the process of law.
Having considered the submissions, Justice Dhanuka noted the fact that Vasundhara and her sisters were entitled to make such a statement, however, they would have to prove the same as per law.
The court accordingly, said that all this would have to be tested at the stage of trial as the lower court in Pune is yet to commence trial in this dispute, which is pending since 1980s.
"Striking of the written statement filed by the aunts would have serious adverse impact on their right to defend. Such powers can be exercised sparingly and in case of clear finding that such pleadings, if allowed to be remain on record, would be an abuse of process of the court.
In my view, since suit itself is pending since last 35 years, no case is made out by Jyotiraditya for striking off the written statements," Justice Dhanuka held.
The court has accordingly, held that the alleged inconsistency in the affidavit filed in 1985 and the statement filed in 2017 could be considered at the stage of trial.
