The Hinduja Family Dispute, A Long-Standing Legal Battle over Control of a Multibillion-Dollar Empire And No Resolution In Sight!

The Hinduja family dispute remains unresolved, with legal battles ongoing in several jurisdictions. The case has been marked by public mudslinging between the family members and has highlighted the challenges of managing complex family businesses across multiple jurisdictions.

The dispute began in 2014 when one of the four Hinduja brothers, Srichand Hinduja, fell out with his younger brother, Gopichand Hinduja, over control of the family’s assets, including the multibillion-dollar Hinduja Group.

The Hinduja Group, which is the family’s conglomerate, has a presence in various industries, including banking and finance, energy, real estate, healthcare, and media. The group’s businesses operate in more than 30 countries and employ over 150,000 people worldwide.

The dispute escalated into a legal battle across several jurisdictions, including India, the UK, and Switzerland. The case involves allegations of fraud, mismanagement, and breach of trust among the family members.

The case has been complicated by the fact that the family members are spread across different countries and have varying interests in the family business. The case has also been marked by public mudslinging between the family members.

As of April 2023, the dispute remains unresolved, with legal battles ongoing in several.

The Chronology Of The Long Standing Dispute
The Hinduja family dispute has been a complex and long-standing legal battle that has involved multiple jurisdictions and allegations of fraud, mismanagement, and breach of trust. Here are some of the key twists and turns in this high-profile case:

2014: The Beginning
The Hinduja family dispute began in 2014 when one of the four Hinduja brothers, Srichand Hinduja, fell out with his younger brother, Gopichand Hinduja, over control of the family’s assets. The dispute centred on the control of the multibillion-dollar Hinduja Group, which has interests in diverse industries such as oil, banking, and healthcare.

2015: The case goes to court in London.
In 2015, Srichand Hinduja filed a legal claim in the High Court of Justice in London, seeking to revoke the 2014 restructuring of the family’s assets, which he claimed had been carried out without his knowledge or consent.

2017: The case moves to India
In 2017, Gopichand Hinduja filed a counter-claim in the Bombay High Court, seeking to enforce the 2014 restructuring of the family’s assets. The case was complicated by the fact that the Hinduja family had businesses and assets spread across multiple jurisdictions.

2018: A settlement is reached in 2018
It seemed that a settlement had been reached between the brothers, with the family agreeing to split the assets evenly. However, the settlement was never implemented, and the legal battle continued.

2020: A Swiss court orders an asset freeze
In 2020, a Swiss court ordered a freeze on $4 billion in assets belonging to Srichand Hinduja following a legal claim by his daughter, Vinoo Hinduja, who accused her father of trying to sell the family’s Swiss properties without her consent.

2021: The case takes a new turn
In 2021, Srichand Hinduja suffered a stroke and hence could not attend a court hearing in the UK, where his brothers sought to remove him as a trustee of a family trust. The hearing was adjourned.

What’s At Stake?
In the banking and finance sector, the group owns the Geneva-based private bank, Hinduja Bank, as well as Ashok Leyland Finance, which is one of the leading non-banking financial companies in India.

In the energy sector, the group has interests in oil and gas exploration, production, and refining, through its subsidiaries, such as Gulf Oil International and Hinduja National Power Corporation.

In the healthcare sector, the group owns the Mumbai-based P.D. Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Centre, which is one of the leading healthcare providers in India.

In the media sector, the group owns IN Entertainment, which is a film and television production company based in Mumbai.

The exact amount of wealth at stake in the Hinduja family dispute is difficult to determine, as the family’s assets are spread across multiple jurisdictions and are held in different companies and trusts. However, according to Forbes, the Hinduja family’s net worth was estimated to be around $15.4 billion as of 2021.

The Battle Intensifies

A lawyer representing patriarch Srichand Hinduja has informed a London court that the apparent truce between the billionaire Hinduja family over the future of their global business empire is in jeopardy due to lawsuits and threatened lawsuits between family members.

This raises the possibility that the family, whose business spans several sectors, including banking, chemicals, and healthcare, may face further litigation.

In November, the Hinduja family’s lawyers had stated that they would cease all disputes existing between them in all jurisdictions, which also included a lawsuit at London’s High Court over the Hinduja family’s assets.

However, the wider dispute had come to light in separate proceedings regarding the health of 87-year-old Srichand, who suffers from dementia.

Srichand’s younger brother Gopichand had challenged the legitimacy of a lasting power of attorney granted to Srichand’s daughters, Vinoo and Shanu.
Despite a ruling in June, which had seemingly resolved the matter, it appears that not all of the London lawsuit was resolved, with many pieces of litigation and threatened litigation remaining, including in Mauritius, the Channel Islands, and murmurs of legal proceedings in India.

SP, as the 87-year-old is called, suffers from dementia, and the court was informed that at one point, the family’s conflict went so deep that he was just days away from being moved to a state-run National Health Service hospital.

Even as the family continue to negotiate a broader settlement, Srichand’s daughter Vinoo and Gopichand are yet to resolve a dispute about what happened to the 2014 letter and how it may have been used, according to Nikki Singla, a lawyer representing Srichand’s interests.