The legal dispute between the Hiremath siblings and their maternal uncle Baba Kalyani took a completely different turn on Monday, with petitioners Sameer Hiremath and his sister Pallavi Swadi telling the Pune court that they would go for mediation with their uncle as “they were deeply anguished by the mud-slinging in court.”

Even though Mr. Kalyani’s counsel refuted any talks of settlement or mediation, the court accepted the request for mediation.

The Kalyani Group on Monday stated that the action of petitioners had proved that both had no cause of action in filing the partition suit and had been indulging in making malicious attempts to defame certain named family members.

The siblings had approached the Pune civil court earlier this year seeking partition of Kalyani family HUF. In response, Mr. Kalyani filed a reply denying the very existence of any family HUF. 

He had also told the court that the siblings had no right in any family wealth by virtue of being children of his sister Sugandha Hiremath.  He had claimed that his grandfather Annappa Naryan Kalyani (ANK) “was not a wealthy man and merely gave ₹2 lakh at the time of his death to his son Neelkanth Annappa Kalyani (NAK), who is the father of Baba Kalyani and Sugandha Hiremath.”

The Hiremath siblings have taken offence that their “great grandfather, Annappa Narayan Kalyani was called a pauper.” In a reply filed in Pune Court on Monday, Sameer Hiremath and his sister Pallavi, accused Mr. Kalyani of perjury.  The siblings also expressed anguish over Mr. Kalyani’s claim that they are not coparceners in family wealth by virtue of being children of a daughter. They reiterated in their rejoinder that it was the wealth created by their great grandfather, ANK, which has led to growth of Kalyani family. Advocate Shailendra Aglawe, representing the siblings on Monday, said, “The defendant [Mr. Kalyani] had filed a reply in the case mentioning certain things about his grandfather. We found the reply to be poor taste and extremely disturbing for the family name. Hence, we filed a rejoinder in court today denying all the hurtful statements.”

“In order to prevent any further mud-slinging in court, we suggested mediation to the court. We submitted an application to that effect. The court has agreed to refer the matter to mediation,” he added.

A spokesperson of Kalyani Group said, “Having filed a frivolous suit before the Pune Local Court seeking partition of alleged properties of Kalyani family HUF, both Sameer Hiremath and Pallavi Swadi have now sought permission of the Hon’ble Court to permit mediation of the dispute.”

“The proposal to mediate in the pending dispute itself demonstrates that both have no cause of action in filing the partition suit. Both petitioners have been indulging in making malicious attempts to defame certain named family members,” the spokesperson added.