Amid legal battle, Karisma Kapoor marks Sunjay Kapur’s birthday; Kareena Kapoor pens heartfelt message

MUMBAI: Actor Karisma Kapoor on Thursday remembered her late ex-husband, businessman Sunjay Kapur, on his birth anniversary, amid an ongoing legal dispute over his estate.

Karisma shared a picture of a cake with “Happy birthday Dad” written on it, in memory of Sunjay, who passed away earlier this year.

The post was also shared by her sister, actor Kareena Kapoor Khan, who added an emotional note, writing, “My sam and kiu, dad is protecting you always and forever”, and included a heart emoji.

Sunjay Kapur, the chairman of Sona Comstar, a well-known auto parts manufacturer, passed away in June this year while playing Polo in London. Since his passing, his estate has been the subject of an ongoing legal battle.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday heard detailed submissions from Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar, representing Priya Kapur, the wife of the late industrialist Sunjay Kapur, in a civil suit filed by Karisma Kapoor’s children seeking a share in their father’s personal assets.

Justice Jyoti Singh presided over the matter, where Priya Kapur has opposed the suit, asserting that there is no valid legal challenge to the will of Sunjay Kapur dated March 21, 2025, under which his assets were bequeathed.

Nayar argued that the entire plaint is bereft of any cause of action. There is no challenge to this Will. He submitted that the plaintiffs were aware of the will’s existence as early as July 30, when it was disclosed, and that a formal reading of the will was held in their presence.

He further pointed out that the suit was filed on September 9 without any reference to the will, and that the document was officially shared with the plaintiffs on September 15, pursuant to the court’s direction. “Even after that, there was no amendment to the plaint or any replication challenging the will”, he said.

Questioning the maintainability of the case, Nayar remarked, “I ask myself in which proceeding are we putting the Will to issue? This is not a probate proceeding. You have not challenged the execution or validity of the Will in the pleadings. There is no declaration sought for cancelling it.”

He accused the plaintiffs of raising a “non-existent and bogus challenge”, adding that after the recent Supreme Court judgment, the court can suo-motu reject the plaint if it discloses no cause of action.

Referring to the alleged discrepancies cited by the plaintiffs, Nayar said, “I am told that there are four additional grounds to invalidate a will — wrong spelling, wrong address, writing testatrix instead of testator, and the closeness of witnesses. In my 45 years of experience, I have never seen a Will invalidated for spelling errors. Forgery has to be complete, with no mistakes left. And this lady (Priya Kapur) is not a housewife; she is an investment banker. Would she spell her son’s name wrong?”

He went on to argue that minor errors could not invalidate a validly executed will, stating that the only relevant questions were whether the deceased was of sound mind and whether the will was executed in the presence of two attesting witnesses.”A will is not judged by whose custody it remained in or when it surfaced, but by whether it bears genuine signatures and proper attestation,” he asserted.

Nayar also sought to counter the plaintiffs’ emotional arguments, remarking, “This is wife versus wife — obviously, the current wife would be preferred, not the estranged one.” He said his submissions were only to “dispel allegations” and establish that prima facie the Will is valid.

Reading from the written statement, Nayar pointed out that the execution and disclosure of the will were placed on affidavit and that no material exists before the court to suggest otherwise.”The execution of the will and the course of disclosure have been detailed. There is no basis for assuming a different narrative,” he said.

The court concluded the day’s hearing after Nayar’s submissions. The matter will continue on Friday for further arguments.

Karisma and Sunjay were married in 2003 and got divorced in 2016 after years of public and legal conflict. The two share two children, Kiaan and Samara Kapur.

Soon after, Sunjay found love again with Delhi-based model and socialite Priya Sachdev. In 2017, the two got married and later welcomed their son, Azarias. (ANI)