Father struggles to pay rent, blames businessman son for poverty

Vijaypat Singhania, the son of the founder of Raymonds, says he has been reduced to poverty He has blamed his son, Gautam Singhania,the chairman of Raymonds behind this turn of events Gautam Singhania is estimated to have property over $ 1.4 billion

Only in July this year, did a nine-year old property dispute between the Singhanias come to an end. Over nine years after an arbitrator divided their family properties three-way, the Singhania family groups finally brought the dispute to an end, with Raymond owner Gautam Singhania and others informing the Supreme Court that they have settled their wrangle among themselves.

Three Singhania family groups -- Mumbai, Kolkata and Kanpur were locked in the dispute over shares in the premium properties, despite the arbitration award splitting it three-ways. It said the Bombay group will get Rs 23.40 crore, while the Kanpur group will get Rs 22.71 crore as per the settlement they have agreed upon.

It had on April 30, directed Raymond owner Vijaypat Singhania and his son Gautam to hand over their luxury Kamla cottage, a bungalow in Juhu, to Kolkata group of the family as per the 2008, arbitration award by May 6.

The bungalow was handed over to the Kolkata group of family after the apex court order.

The arbitration award had said that the Kanpur group of the family was to hand over possession of four properties to Vijaypat Singhania-led Mumbai group, which in turn was to hand over the Juhu bungalow to the Kolkata group.

However, Vijaypat Singhania had refused to part with the bungalow saying he had not got his share of property from the Kanpur group.

Vijaypat Singhania had filed a petition in the Bombay High Court saying he wasn't handed over the possession of a duplex in the redeveloped 36-storey JK House on Malabar Hill despite repeated reminders to the property's owner, Raymond Ltd. He further said the company's boss, Gautam was behind all of this.

JK House, consisting of four duplex apartments, is located at Breach Candy in Mumbai.

Vijaypat alleged that even two of his personal accountants had gone missing with important documents and papers related to the transaction. He alleged it was at the behest of son Gautam Singhania who wanted to squeeze the life out of him.

Gautam Hari Singhania became chairman of Raymonds after his elder brother Madhupati Singhania relinquished his rights to the family’s property and his share in 1999.

Unconfirmed reports peg Gautam Hari Singhania’s net worth at an estimated $ 1.4 billion. The wealthy industrialist has a lavish lifestyle and holds immense passion for fast cars, luxury yachts, speedboats, planes and nightclubs.

Gautam Singhania net worth has allowed him to own a bunch of pricey assets which include his 30-storied mansion “JK House”, a farmhouse in Alibaug, a Challenger 604 business jet, three helicopters and two luxury yachts – Moonraker and Ashena.

He also owns a number of speedboats named after movies of James Bond including Thunderball, Golden Eye, Goldfinger, and Octopussy. In partnership with DJ Aqeel, he also established a nightclub “Poison” in Bandra. An enthusiast of express cars, Gautam has also participated in racing events driving a Lamborghini Gallardo in Europe and a Formula 1 car in France. The eminent business personality also formed the first super car club in India.