Hinduja brothers' fight: What went wrong in the family?
The issue in the Hinduja family cropped up in the public when Srichand Hinduja's daughter Vinoo moved High Court in England, seeking control of Switzerland-based Hinduja Bank for her family

- Jun 25, 2020,
- Updated Jun 25, 2020 10:11 PM IST
Transition of ownership to the third generation is the central point of discussion among Hinduja family members in recent years, say industry sources. "The boys are in big roles now, either in GOCL Corp or Ashok Leyland. Only Srichand Hinduja's daughters are pursuing career in the group business. The litigation is for the control of the bank in Switzerland since no formal division has happened in the family," says an industrialist on condition of anonymity.
From outside, the Hinduja Group seems to be largely controlled by the second generation -- Hinduja brothers Srichand (84), Gopichand (80), Prakash (75) and Ashok (70). But the fact is that the operations of most of these businesses -- Ashok Leyland, GOCL Corporation (formerly Gulf Oil), Hinduja Bank (Switzerland) among others -- are headed by the third generation, except in the case of IndusInd Bank, where professionals are in charge.
The issue in the Hinduja family cropped up in the public when Srichand's daughter Vinoo moved High Court in England, acting on behalf of her father as a "litigation friend" and asked for "partition". She wants her family to get the control of Switzerland-based Hinduja Bank, in which her father is the chairman emeritus and elder sister Shanu is the chairperson. Shanu's son Karam Hinduja joined the bank as CEO about a week ago.
The bone of contention among Hinduja brothers is a letter signed by them in July 2014. The letter says that the "assets held in any single brother's name belong to all four". Hinduja Bank is a small-sized bank with total assets of 343 million Swiss francs (Rs 2,744 crore) as of 2018. It also owns close to 5 per cent in Ashok Leyland.
Transition of ownership to the third generation is the central point of discussion among Hinduja family members in recent years, say industry sources. "The boys are in big roles now, either in GOCL Corp or Ashok Leyland. Only Srichand Hinduja's daughters are pursuing career in the group business. The litigation is for the control of the bank in Switzerland since no formal division has happened in the family," says an industrialist on condition of anonymity.
From outside, the Hinduja Group seems to be largely controlled by the second generation -- Hinduja brothers Srichand (84), Gopichand (80), Prakash (75) and Ashok (70). But the fact is that the operations of most of these businesses -- Ashok Leyland, GOCL Corporation (formerly Gulf Oil), Hinduja Bank (Switzerland) among others -- are headed by the third generation, except in the case of IndusInd Bank, where professionals are in charge.
The issue in the Hinduja family cropped up in the public when Srichand's daughter Vinoo moved High Court in England, acting on behalf of her father as a "litigation friend" and asked for "partition". She wants her family to get the control of Switzerland-based Hinduja Bank, in which her father is the chairman emeritus and elder sister Shanu is the chairperson. Shanu's son Karam Hinduja joined the bank as CEO about a week ago.
The bone of contention among Hinduja brothers is a letter signed by them in July 2014. The letter says that the "assets held in any single brother's name belong to all four". Hinduja Bank is a small-sized bank with total assets of 343 million Swiss francs (Rs 2,744 crore) as of 2018. It also owns close to 5 per cent in Ashok Leyland.