The YSRCP chief, has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) accusing Sharmila, who is also the AP Congress president, of illegally transferring shares of Saraswati Power and Industries held by him and his wife, Bharathi, to her and their mother, Vijayamma.
The ongoing feud between former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and his estranged sister, YS Sharmila, has escalated into a high-profile legal battle. The siblings, who have taken divergent political paths, are now entangled in a dispute over stakes in family businesses.
The YSRCP chief, has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) accusing Sharmila, who is also the AP Congress president, of illegally transferring shares of Saraswati Power and Industries held by him and his wife, Bharathi, to her and their mother, Vijayamma.
The petition, filed last month in the Hyderabad Bench of the NCLT, has been taken up and posted for further hearing in November. In his petition, Jagan stated that he had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sharmila, wherein he expressed his intent to transfer his and his wife’s shares of Saraswati Power and Industries to his sister through a gift deed, subject to pending cases related to some properties, including attachments by the Enforcement Directorate.
Jagan, in a letter to his sister, expressed concerns that the share transfer without fulfilling the legal obligations and clearance from the court could have adverse implications. He also expressed his desire to revoke the MoU, stating, “It is no secret that we are no longer on the best of terms, and in view of this changed situation, I wanted to formally intimate you and put you on notice that I have no further intent to act upon my original intent as expressed in the MoU.”
Jagan mentioned that the properties, acquired by their father, former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy, and the ancestral ones, were divided among the family members. He intended to transfer the shares (his own property), in addition to ₹200 crore, directly or through their mother, to his sister over the past decade.
Sharmila contests ‘deprival‘
In response, Sharmila accused her brother of depriving her and her children of their rightful share in the family properties. She expressed her dismay at Jagan’s actions, stating, “You have now chosen to file cases against your mother and deprive your sister and her children of properties to which they are entitled under the MoU. I am appalled at the extent to which you have strayed from the path of our noble father.”
Sharmila reminded Jagan that their father had instructed that all properties acquired with family resources during his lifetime should be divided equally among his four grandchildren. She accused Jagan of not standing by this commitment after their father’s death. “Our father was unequivocal in his instructions that all four of his grandchildren are to share equally in all assets that existed during his lifetime, whether they pertain to Bharathi Cements, Sakshi, or any other ventures initiated before his passing,” she wrote.
Sharmila also pointed out that the assets mentioned in the MoU as being transferred to her out of ‘love and affection’ were only in partial fulfillment of their father’s directives. She emphasized that she had agreed to give up her equal share in the interest of resolving family disputes. “Thus, under the MoU executed on August 31, 2019, only a few properties were assigned to me,” she added.
The letter was signed by Sharmila and her mother, YS Vijaya Rajasekhara Reddy, popularly known as Vijayamma. Jagan, in his letter to Sharmila, wrote that her actions had deeply hurt him.
The legal battle between the siblings has brought to light the deep-seated family disputes and the complexities surrounding the division of family properties. The outcome of the NCLT hearing in November will be crucial in determining the future of the shares and properties in question.
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