Calcutta: The grandsons of Shree Kumar Bangur have filed a suit of partition in Calcutta High Court laying claim to a portion of the family assets estimated at Rs 3,000 crore.

The suit, arising from a matrimonial dispute within the Bangur family, threatens to drive a wedge between two prominent Marwari business families in the city.

The two grandsons of Shree Kumar Bangur, chairman and managing director of West Coast Paper Mills, have laid claim to a little over one-fifth of the S.K. Bangur's family assets estimated at Rs 3,000 crore.

Being minors, the suit was filed by their mother Nitya, the daughter of Yashodhara Khaitan and late Deepak Khaitan of Williamson Magor Group. The Telegraph is not naming the minors to protect their identities.

Issuing an interim order, Justice Soumen Sen has appointed retired judge Alok Chakraborty of the high court to mediate between the two warring parties and set a 60-day period to hammer out an amicable settlement.

Meanwhile, the S.K. Bangur family has been asked to maintain status quo on the movable and immovable properties pertaining to the suit. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled on March 26.

When contacted, S.K. Bangur, whose elder son Virendraa is married to Nitya, said: "This is a family matter and being resolved under the guidance of the high court."

Debanjan Mandal, partner of solicitor firm Fox & Mandal, representing Nitya Bangur noted: "Protection and ultimate partition of the minors' rights in the joint family property is the objective of the suit. After all, the minors do get a right in the co-parcenary property at birth following the principles of Mitakshara law. Any amicable settlement is most welcome."

Assets in question

The crown jewel of the S.K. Bangur family is West Coast Paper Mills, a listed company with a market capitalisation of Rs 2,073.94 crore. Since the family holds a 55.82 per cent stake in the company, the market value of the Bangurs' stake is Rs 1,158 crore based on Thursday's closing price.

Moreover, there are several other smaller group firms that have been named as respondents in the suit (see chart).

The claims also pertain to Digvijay Cement and Jayshree Chemicals, which now belong to Aditya Vikram Birla Group. Shree Kumar Bangur inherited these assets through a family settlement in 1992 that covered the extended Bangur family, all descendants of Mungee Ram Bangur who migrated to Calcutta from Rajasthan in the 19th century.

According to the suit, the grandsons can stake their claim in these assets under the Mitakshara school of Hindu law, which Marwari families usually follow.

The suit also lays claims to the shares of the several trusts belonging to the family.

Under the Mitakshara school, the assets of S.K. Bangur are to be equally divided among him and his sons Saurabh and Virendraa. The sons of Virendraa are claiming two-thirds of their father's share, which would roughly translate into 22 per cent of the entire asset in question.

Family discord

Nitya Bangur left 16, Alipore Road, the plush residence of the Bangurs spread over 75 cottahs of prime land, on June 19, 2017 under "compelling circumstances" and started living in her family home at 10, Queens Park in Ballygung. Since then, Nitya sent several missives to the Bangur family seeking a share for her sons in order to protect their future interests.

The suit says an unnamed "well-wisher" - a well known personality within the Marwari community - had been sent as an emissary by Nitya to work out a settlement last November.

As talks reached a deadlock, the petition suit was filed with the high court seeking the partition of the assets.

"It is a rare instance when a wife from a conservative business Marwari family goes to court seeking assets belonging to the husband and father- in-law. It is definitely a sign of change," said an observer who has witnessed such families from close quarters.

Sources pointed out to the support Nitya received from her family, especially from mother Yashodhara, who Rama Prasad Goenka used to treat as his own daughter.