Hinduja family dispute not over yet; details emerge from proceedings in Court of Protection

The Hinduja brothers were in the UK Court of Protection on April 24, 2023. The Court of Protection hears cases pertaining to individuals who cannot make decisions themselves due to ailments. Srichand Hinduja, 87, suffers from dementia.

In November 2022, when shocking details of the feud in the Hinduja family came out due to a court judgment, it was followed by an announcement of truce.

The two factions - one led by Gopichand Hinduja along with younger brothers Ashok and Prakash, and the other comprising eldest brother Srichand Hinduja’s daughters Vinoo and Shanu – however, issued statements that very much pointed to a house-still-divided situation.

Months after a confidential June 2022 ‘Heads of Terms’ agreement which envisaged withdrawal of legal proceedings and the November 2022 shocker, it is once again court proceedings - on Monday, April 24 - laying bare that the dispute is anything but over.

The setting was familiar, with the same judge (Justice Anthony Hayden) sitting in the Court of Protection being told by a barrister that litigation between the family members continues in different parts of the world with the likelihood of a legal fight starting even in India. Barrister Nikki Singla, representing Srichand Hinduja, told the court that chancery dispute in the high court in London had still not concluded though it was “very largely” over.

In his August 2022 judgment (which was made public only in November 2022), Justice Hayden had noted: “On the 30th June 2022, I was informed that the family have now agreed ‘heads of terms’ intending to end not only the Chancery Division proceedings but all disputes existing between them in all jurisdictions.”

As details emerged on Monday that the family continues to fight legal cases in Mauritius, Switzerland, Channel Islands, Justice Hayden, referring to the heads of terms, remarked that “it is not astonishing that it’s turned out to be something less than a treaty.”

The Court of Protection hears cases pertaining to individuals who cannot make decisions themselves due to ailments. Srichand Hinduja, 87, suffers from dementia and had his daughter Vinoo representing him as “litigation friend”. But as it came out that Vinoo wrongly used assets belonging to Srichand, she could no longer represent her father’s best interest, a role which has been taken up by a court-appointed Deputy. The Deputy (solicitor Andrew Hine) is represented by Singla in court.

Justice Hayden also allowed the payment of £1.3 million to Vinoo Hinduja towards the legal bill when she represented her father in court proceedings. Vinoo’s case has been that her uncles have subjected her (the Srichand Hinduja branch) to a financial squeeze and having denied access to Srichand’s funds. This has been done, Vinoo alleges, by using the family dictum “everything belongs to everyone and nothing belongs to anyone,” which was enshrined in a letter signed by all four Hinduja brothers.

It is claimed that Gopichand in June 2022 had said that the principle was no longer enforceable, but how exactly the dictum guided the working of the Hinduja empire and division of incomes remains widely disputed.

It is interesting that details of the Hinduja family dispute have been percolating due to the proceedings in the Court of Protection (which is concerned with the well-being of Srichand Hinduja) and not the chancery court where the actual dispute between the two factions is being litigated.

Justice Hayden had earlier remarked that Srichand Hinduja’s best interests have not been kept in mind by the feuding family members who have been “distracted by parallel commercial litigation”. There was a point when Srichand Hinduja was almost admitted to a state-run facility as the family had failed to draw upon an agreed medical plan for the patriarch.

In 2022, the Hinduja brothers (Srichand and Gopichand) topped the Sunday Times rich list for a fourth time with a fortune of £28.47 billion. Whether they will repeat that in 2023 remains to be seen.