A feud between members of the UK's richest family, the Hindujas is finally said to be over. Srichand Parmanand Hinduja, 86, is the eldest of the four brothers behind the Hinduja Group conglomerate. They were top of this year's Sunday Times Rich List with their £28bn collective fortune - up £11bn on the previous year.
Public nursing home over private care?
But a High Court feud over a bank the family owns in Geneva has meant Srichand Hinduja's needs since he was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia, "have become marginalised", Mr Justice Hayden said.
Court judgments that have been made public have revealed that the two daughters of the eldest brother Srichand Hinduja, and the younger brothers led by Gopichand Hinduja – were inimical to the well-being of Srichand. According to media reports, the brothers have agreed to end the family dispute.
The second most senior judge at the Court of Protection said that despite the "extraordinary scope and reach of their financial capacity" the family had failed to organise his care, "driving him to consider a placement in a public nursing home".
Mr Hayden has been quoted in the press, saying that a "private residence with a full care package" would be the best way to achieve "peace and dignity" for Mr Hinduja. "Such a plan requires a financial settlement to be put in place to ensure the resilience of the care package," he said.
But he added that "suitable accommodation and appropriate care" had not been arranged and he has been "placed at a disadvantage by his own family members' conduct. I entirely accept the Official Solicitor's analysis that Srichand Hinduja's best interests have been consistently marginalised in consequence of the parties' shifting positions," he said.”
A confidential agreement
Gopichand Hinduja assured the judge the "feud was over".
"The Hinduja family matter regarding the health and welfare of SP [Srichand] has already been resolved amicably between all parties and today's judgment solely concerned whether those matters should remain private," a spokesperson for the Hinduja family said in an emailed statement to Live Mint.
The Court of Appeal's ruling states that the Hinduja family has reached "a confidential agreement" to settle litigation in London and abroad.
Statement from daughters
A statement from daughters Ms Shanu and Ms Vinoo Hinduja following the judgment said: "We have always lived and acted according to the instructions given to us by our father. These are in line with his values, which have been instilled in us since childhood.
"We have - as any other children would have done - cared for our parents and have worked in their best interests. Our absolute priority has been to ensure that our parents' wishes are fulfilled and that their dignity and well-being are protected.
"While we are pleased that the dispute surrounding the health and welfare of our father has been resolved, a final settlement with respect to the broader disputes still needs to be reached, so that we can fulfil the wishes of our parents for security and dignity in their final years."
Readers demand answers
ABPL Group approached Mr GP Hinduja to answer some questions for the readers of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar and we were informed that the ‘matter is resolved’. We were also told that it is their ‘personal matter’.
In our email, to Mr GP Hinduja the newsweekly informed him that our Editor-in-Chief Mr CB Patel has received a number of calls with questions from the readers of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar. Therefore we requested his response to the report about the court ruling involving your family in the media. The newsweekly aims to fully understand his standpoint and explain better to our readers. In the messages and calls received from our readers, many have wondered why a wealthy and renowned family would consider putting an old man in a public nursing home when they could easily afford the best private care at home.
Some of the questions from our readers that were sent to Mr Hinduja sought answers to the fact that he, as a public figure, has talked about philanthropy, Indian culture and its values, family unity and how wealth is nothing without family unity.
Mr Hinduja has been an icon for the community, globally, yet the readers wonder why did he block information and the right to report the news about the family dispute over the last two years. Another reader demanded to know whether SP’s daughters received equal status and rights as the sons of the Hinduja family.
Some readers of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar also suspect that this could be a potential issue faced by many Indian families where lawyers and accountants are the only winners if families fall out over money and property.
We did not hear from Mr GP Hinduja by the time we went to press on Tuesday evening.
