Highlights
- Karisma Kapoor’s children allege late industrialist Sunjay Kapur’s will is forged.
- Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani claims the document is riddled with digital edits and contradictions.
- Delhi High Court to resume hearing on the £3 billion inheritance case.
A digital will at the centre of a family feud
The inheritance dispute over the late industrialist Sunjay Kapur’s £3 billion estate has intensified, as Karisma Kapoor’s children, Samaira and Kiaan, accused their stepmother, Priya Sachdev Kapur of fabricating his will.
Appearing before the Delhi High Court, senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani said the document in question was “a deliberate fabrication engineered by Priya Kapur to gain control of every major asset,” including company shares, trusts, and prime real estate, while excluding Kapur’s children and his mother, Rani Kapur.
“The will exists only in digital form, no signatures, no registration, and no handwriting. There’s no trace of Sunjay Kapur’s involvement,” Jethmalani told Justice Jyoti Singh, arguing that the industrialist had become “a digital ghost in his own will.”
Contradictions raise questions of authenticity
The senior counsel drew the court’s attention to several glaring inconsistencies in the document, particularly its repeated use of feminine pronouns. “When you find ‘she’ and ‘her’ used multiple times in a will attributed to Sunjay Kapur, it’s difficult to believe he drafted it,” Jethmalani argued.
Adding to the doubts, the document identifies the deceased as a ‘testatrix’, a term used exclusively for women leaving behind a will. “A document like this would have been an embarrassment to someone as meticulous and image-conscious as Mr Kapur,” he said, stressing that the language itself undermines the will’s credibility.
Legal experts say such inconsistencies could play a crucial role in determining the case’s outcome. Rahul R. Shelke, civil lawyer at the Bombay High Court, told Moneycontrol: “In high-value succession cases, even small linguistic errors can have major implications. The Court will assess whether these were simple drafting mistakes or evidence of tampering after death. Establishing authorship and intent will be key.”
Samaira and Kiaan Kapur with mother Karishma KapoorGetty Images
Control of the empire under scrutiny
According to Jethmalani, Priya Kapur currently controls 60% of the estate directly, 12% through her son, and 75% of the Kapur family trust, giving her near-total control over Sunjay Kapur’s business interests. “This isn’t inheritance,” he said. “It’s a takeover disguised as widowhood.”
The Delhi High Court is expected to resume the hearing at 2:30 pm on October 15, 2025.
Last month, Samaira and Kiaan Kapur moved the court seeking their rightful share in their father’s vast estate. On September 26, the court allowed Priya Sachdev Kapur to submit a sealed list of assets. During an earlier hearing on October 9, the children compared their stepmother to “Cinderella’s evil stepmother.”
Sunjay Kapur, chairman of Sona Comstar, passed away in London in June following a heart attack. He was married to Karisma Kapoor from 2003 to 2016 and later to Priya Sachdev in 2017.
