Gopichand P Hinduja, chairman of globe-spanning Hinduja Group, died in London at the age of 85, sources close to his family said. Fondly known as 'GP' in business circles, Gopichand P. Hinduja was unwell for past few weeks and died in a London hospital, they said.
"It has been a long period of harassment and suffering in a personal sense and also business-wise and nothing can compensate for that", the statement said.
The case has been brought by Srichand Parmanand Hinduja, 84, described as the "patriarch" of the family, against brothers G P Hinduja, 80, P P Hinduja, 75, and A P Hinduja, 69, and revolves around the "validity and effect" of a letter dated July 2, 2014. The letter includes statements to the effect that the brothers appoint each other as their executors, and that assets held in any single brother's name belong to all four. A related second letter, dated July 1, 2014, is also linked to the dispute.
The Hinduja brothers, who run the multinational Hinduja Group conglomerate with interests across automotive, real estate and oil, moved up from third position last year to top the UK's billionaire charts this year.
Their counsel Ram Jethmalani gave an undertaking to the court that they would not flee the trial.
The permission stands till the end of the proceedings in the trial court.
Indian cricket legend Kapil Dev was also honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award at the ceremony.
59 of the 101 millionaires have seen an overall increase in net worth.
The income tax department on Wednesday conducted a survey operation at Hinduja Global Solutions, an entity of the Hinduja Group, in Mumbai and some other cities, official sources said.
His business successes which started with the international distribution rights for the Bollywood blockbuster movie 'Sangam' in 1964 made him one of the richest in Britain but it was the Bofors scam that made Srichand Parmanand Hinduja famous, or rather infamous, back home. SP Hinduja, as he was known, died in London on Wednesday after a prolonged illness. He was 87, a family spokesperson said. Born in a business family in Karachi, British India, he and his two younger brothers were accused of receiving payments totalling Rs 64 crore in illegal commissions to help Swedish gunmaker AB Bofors secure an Indian government contract.
Indian family-run business houses have in recent years seen ugly public spats between owners over control. But metals-to-ports conglomerate Essar's Ruia family seems to be an exception. Three generations of the Ruia family - founder brother Shashi and Ravi Ruia, their children and grandchildren - continue to live under one roof and jointly run the business empire.
While the Hinduja brothers - Gopichand, Prakash, and Ashok Hinduja - did not indicate any move to begin talks with Vinoo Hinduja, top Indian lawyers said mediation would help both sides considering that the letter signed by the four brothers cannot trump other legal documents and challenge the validity of a registered will of SP Hinduja.
Gautam Adani, who is diversifying into many businesses, saw a 48 per cent rise in his wealth to Rs 1.40 lakh crore and moved up two places in rankings to being the fourth richest Indian. Hinduja Brothers and HCL's Shiv Nadar were ranked 2nd and 3rd. Wipro's Azim Premji slipped two places to fifth place.
It said it was not convinced with the grounds of the CBI to condone over 4,500 days' delay in filing the appeal. The CBI had filed the appeal on February 2 this year.
Over the years, a noticeable unpleasantness began to develop between senior and junior, Sorabjee and Salve. Salve gave credit, for his rise in the profession, to Nani Palkhivala, and not to Sorabjee. This hurt Sorabjee, though he never admitted it.
Azim Premji and his family gave away Rs 7,904 crore (Rs 79.04 billion) in philanthropy, up 1,645 per cent!!! over the previous year.
Central Bureau of Investigation said on Tuesday that it would examine the Delhi High Court judgement quashing all charges against Hinduja brothers.
In the wake of the 2G acquittals, here are a few high-profile cases in which question marks were raised by various courts over the CBI's probe.
While Forbes magazine's India Rich List remains dominated by individual business leaders, those making the mark along with their family members are also quite a few and also include three in the top 10 -- Hinduja Brothers (6th place), Adi Godrej & family (8th position) and Sunil Mittal & family (10th).
The Congress kept sheltering Quattrochi, and the BJP was more intent on shielding the Hinduja brothers. The fact is that the two roads crisscrossed, and neither the truth prevailed nor did the law take its course, says Mohan Guruswamy.
The UK-based group, run by billionaire Hinduja brothers, is already present across various countries including India in sectors like banking, auto, energy, technology and healthcare and has a turnover of over $25 billion (about Rs 1.4 lakh crore or Rs 1.4 trillion).
Keith Vaz, the Indian-origin Labour member of Parliament, has emerged as Britain's most influential Asian in a list of 101 powerful people from the region, which includes the likes of steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, the billionaire Hinduja Brothers and leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul.
Four Hinduja brothers -- Srichand, Gopichand, Prakash and Ashok -- had in 2014 signed on a document saying the assets held by one brother belong to all, and that each of them will appoint the others as their executors. But now family patriarch Srichand Hinduja, 84, and his daughter Vinoo want the letter to be declared of "no legal effect" and the family's assets be separated as per his wish of 2016.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed an application seeking stay of the Delhi high court verdict quashing the charges against the Hinduja brothers in the Bofors payoff case.
According to the Asian Rich List 2010, brought out by Eastern Eye, a publication of the Asian Media & Marketing Group, 59-year-old Mittal is followed by the Hinduja brothers -- Srichand and Gopichand -- with estimated wealth of 8 billion pounds, Anil Agarwal of mining group Vedanta Resources with 4 billion pounds, Sir Anwar Pervez of Bestways with 715 million pounds and industrialist Swraj Paul of Caparo with 510 million pounds.
Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja emerged as the 66th richest in the world, as part of an Oxfam study released at the WEF.
A mere two-bedroom apartment - albeit quite spacious, covering 3,000 square (sq.) feet (ft) - will set you back 5.8 million. That's the asking price from the Indian-owned Hinduja Group, if you desire a nest in London Whitehall's iconic Old War Office (OWO). Its 1,100 rooms are now being converted into 85 residences and a first-ever hotel to be operated in Britain by Singapore's legendary Raffles Hotels chain. Gopichand Hinduja, co-chair of the conglomerate, said: "Every decision made on The OWO (as the building is fondly called) is underscored by our passion and respect for the heritage of the building and long-term commitment to London."
CPM said the Bofors gun deal was "an important case highlighting corruption in high places" and did not deserve such an end.
After lot of deliberation, the CBI this year got the nod from the NDA government to file an appeal in the apex court.
The court said a petition has already been admitted in this regard.
Congress-led UPA govt had 'manipulated' the CBI to enable the accused in the Bofors case to get an acquittal on technical grounds, said George Fernandes.
The order was passed by Justice R S Sodhi while hearing a petition filed by Europe-based Hinduja brothers seeking\nthe discharge of the case.
The advocate said he was compelled to file the petition against the high court judgment as the CBI failed to approach the apex court with a special leave petition within the 90-day deadline for filing an appeal.
The PIL has been filed by lawyer Ajay Agrawal.
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The Hinduja brothers, who top Britain's rich list, said in a statement that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's Budget had set the direction for a 'very positive long-term agenda'.
The CBI filed the appeal against the May 31, 2005 decision of the high court by which all accused, including Europe-based industrialists Hinduja brothers, were discharged from the Rs 64-crore pay-off case.
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