Nawaz Modi, the estranged wife of Raymond Ltd CMD Gautam Singhania, has made a claim of 75% of his $.14-billion personal wealth and it has all the trapping to be a long-drawn affair.
Last week, speaking to Business Today, Vijaypat Singhania, the father of Gautam and patriarch of Raymond, said Nawaz is entitled to 50% of her husband's wealth under Hindu Marriage Act. However, he said he isn't sure if Parsis are covered under the law.
"Under the Hindu Marriage Act, as I know, I'm not a lawyer, 50% of the husband's holding automatically goes to the wife in a separation. And I would have said, she may not need to fight for it. A very simple lawyer can get her that under the Hindu Marriage Act. Why is she fighting for 75%? Gautam is never going to give in because his motto is buy everybody and buy everything," said Vijaypat who had a spat with Gautam over property a few years ago.
He said she will have to seek services of one of country's biggest lawyers if she wants the 75% wealth of Gautam Singhania.
"By fighting like this, I don't think she'll get much. Unless she has maybe a person like Harish Salve, Mukul Rohatgi or Kapil Sibal. There are some big shots in the field. Of course, Harish has become Queen's Counsel now and he's highly respected. But he charges, I think, almost a crore of rupees for a meeting. So, I don't think she can pay that. But if she can hire a good lawyer, I think there's a good chance that she can get at least what is covered under the Hindu Act. What I don't know is whether being a Parsi - is she covered by the Hindu Marriage Act? I haven't checked with anybody. It's none of my business, but I'm sure she would have checked. Her dad will advise her. He's a very respected person. I respect him very highly. She has a brother, PC Modi. I don't know. I've never met him. he's a respected lawyer, he will give her good advice. She said he's the only person she trusts, so she'll go to him. I said good luck. I'm sure he'll give her good advice. I am not qualified to predict on what the courts will do," said Vijaypat.
He also accused his son of someone who is capable of "buying everything".
"He's (Gautam) a guy who will buy everybody, so I don't think even the highest courts of this land will be able to resist his tempting offers. Whether he's good or bad or right or wrong, they are unimportant things. In these conditions, it's very difficult to predict what will happen in a legal case," said Vijaypat.
On Monday, Business Today reported that a large part of Singhania's $1.4-billion wealth is housed in real estate. The JK House property in south Mumbai is said to be the most valuable, with reports pegging its value at around Rs 6,000 crore. The 30-storeyed structure is spread over an area of 16,000 square feet, with floors dedicated to Gautam Singhania’s car collection. According to available information, he owns a Lamborghini Gallardo LP570 Superleggera, Lamborghini Murciélago, Lotus Elise convertible, Nissan Skyline GTR, Honda S2000, Ferrari 458 Italia, Audi Q7, among others. This could not, however, be independently verified and it is not clear how much they are worth.
By birth, Modi Singhania is a Parsi but having got married to a non-Parsi, she ceases to be governed by the law of that religion—it comes into force only when both the parties are Parsis. Assuming Modi Singhania did not convert to Hinduism post-marriage, this issue will be decided by a Special Marriage Act. “Given the high-profile nature of this case, there is a good chance that there will be a settlement behind closed doors. There is a good chance this will take time to resolve,” one lawyer told Business Today.