They sought specific performance of an alleged family arrangement reached in June 1994 between Baba Kalyani and his father Neelkanth Annappa Kalyani.
According to Hiremaths, the arrangement required shares held by Kalyani family-controlled entities in listed specialty chemicals company Hikal Limited to be transferred to Sugandha.
At present, the Hiremath family and entities controlled by it hold around 34.84 per cent of Hikal.
The Hikal proceedings form one part of a wider dispute among Baba Kalyani, Sugandha Hiremath, their brother Gaurishankar Kalyani and their respective children.
Sugandha’s children Sameer Hiremath and Pallavi Swadi have separately instituted partition proceedings claiming rights as coparceners in the alleged Kalyani Family HUF.
The proceedings before the Supreme Court arose from a May 4 judgment of the Bombay High Court refusing to refer the dispute to mediation because Kalyani had not consented to it.
The underlying suit was filed by Sugandha and her husband Jaidev Hiremath before the Bombay High Court in 2023. They sought specific performance of an alleged family arrangement reached in June 1994 between Baba Kalyani and his father Neelkanth Annappa Kalyani.
According to Hiremaths, the arrangement required shares held by Kalyani family-controlled entities in listed specialty chemicals company Hikal Limited to be transferred to Sugandha.
At present, the Hiremath family and entities controlled by it hold around 34.84 per cent of Hikal. Kalyani Investment Company Limited and BF Investment Limited hold approximately 34.01 per cent.
According to the Hiremaths, enforcement of the 1994 arrangement would increase their shareholding to about 68.85 per cent and give them majority voting rights in Hikal.
The Kalyani side has denied that any enforceable arrangement requiring the transfer of the shares was concluded. It has also disputed the Hiremaths’ interpretation of a handwritten note prepared by Neelkanth Kalyani after a family meeting in 1994.
The Hikal proceedings form one part of a wider dispute among Baba Kalyani, Sugandha Hiremath, their brother Gaurishankar Kalyani and their respective children.
The wider litigation concerns assets claimed by the Hiremath side to be belonging to the Kalyani family’s Hindu Undivided Family.
These allegedly include promoter stakes in listed companies such as Bharat Forge and Kalyani Steels, shares in private companies, land, real estate, jewellery, bank deposits and other properties.
Sugandha’s children Sameer Hiremath and Pallavi Swadi have separately instituted partition proceedings claiming rights as coparceners in the alleged Kalyani Family HUF. The Kalyani side has denied the existence of such an HUF and maintained that the businesses and properties are not joint family assets available for partition.
Several connected partition, property and probate proceedings are pending before courts in Mumbai, Pune, Wai and Karad.
In May, Bombay High Court Justice Rajesh S Patil had rejected the Hiremaths’ request for mediation after noting that earlier settlement efforts before the Supreme Court and the Pune District Court had failed.
