Mandhira Kapur Smith, sister of the late Sona Comstar Chairperson Sunjay Kapur, has voiced concern over how her family is being treated by the automotive company founded by their late father, especially her 80-year-old mother Rani Kapur. In an interview with news agency ANI, Mandhira claimed the family has been treated like strangers.
“Within days, everything has been taken away from the family,” she said. She also said the names of family members were not included in obituaries and public acknowledgments.
Mandhira also said her mother had been instrumental in supporting her father Surinder Kapur as he grew the business from its origins in the jewellery trade into a prominent player in the automotive sector. Despite her early involvement, Rani Kapur has now been excluded from the company, Mandhira claimed.
“There should have been some respect given to my mother who is one of the founders with my father. Sona Comstar was built because of my father,” she said. She added that her mother should have been given a non-executive board seat.
The dispute between the Kapur family and Sona Comstar escalated, the company issued a cease-and-desist notice to Rani Kapur, mother of Sunjay and Mandhira Kapur.
In her letter to the board, Rani Kapur claimed that she is the sole beneficiary of Surinder Kapur’s estate and the majority shareholder of the Sona Group, including Sona Comstar.
Rani Kapur also alleged that she was pressured into signing documents backing the appointment of her daughter-in-law, Priya Sachdev Kapur, as a non-executive director on the company’s board.
Sona Comstar responded by saying that Rani Kapur has not had any role in the company since 2019, either directly or indirectly.
Sunjay Kapur’s sister also criticised the company for asking her mother to apologise publicly for requesting a delay to a board meeting after Sunjay Kapur’s death.
“She has been thrown to the curb. They have not cared about her or her feelings or that she stood by my father while he built the company,” Mandhira said.
She added that for her mother, Sona is like another child and asking for a delay in the board meeting was a reasonable request. “She’s not a stranger,” Mandhira said.
She added that the issue is not just about money or business. “People who have not built it will only see money, people who have built it, which is us, see much more than that. We see (this as) a legacy, we see dad’s dreams,” she said.
Mandhira also spoke about her mother’s ongoing questions regarding Sunjay Kapur’s sudden death. “He was fit. Who is giving her answers? My mum’s asking me every day, how did this happen?” she said.
Sunjay Kapur who headed the Rs 30,000 crore mobility tech company died on June 12 while playing polo in London. The autopsy indicated the cause as cardiac arrest.
– Ends