“It is shocking that the petitioners filed a suit on March 20 in the Pune civil court and inappropriately handed over a copy of the suit to the media first, without even serving it on the defendants, or even before the matter is admitted for hearing in the court. This shows the petitioners’ malicious intent, which is to defame and tarnish the image of Baba Kalyani, his family and the group,” said a spokesperson of the Kalyani Group. “As and when the suit is served on us, we will defend our position before the court of law, including initiating appropriate civil/criminal defamation proceedings for tarnishing (our) image.”
Sameer and Pallavi’s mother Sugandha Hiremath is already in an ownership dispute with Baba over Hikal, a speciality chemical player. In their suit, the siblings said Baba, who has been managing the family assets after the death of their grandfather, hasn’t shared information about the movable and immovable properties with them. They highlighted that the foundation of the family assets was laid by their great grandfather and subsequently scaled up by their grandfather. Baba, too, expanded the enterprise, adding to family assets.
“We categorically deny the allegations and state that the aversions made are factually incorrect and baseless,” the Kalyani Group spokesperson said, adding that “various assertions made contradict the petitioner family’s stance in other legal proceedings and are devoid of any locus standi.”
A Padma Bhushan awardee, Baba contributed significantly to the growth of the engineering industry in India. Bharat Forge, though founded by his father in 1966, was transformed by Baba, making the auto and aerospace component maker among the top two players in the world.