Hiranandani family dispute to be settled by middle of the year

A dispute lingering in the family of prominent real estate developer Niranjan Hiranandani for over a year is heading for settlement by June under the mediation of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s wife Cherie and former Delhi High Court chief justice A. P. Shah, according to sources close to the family.

Hiranandani’s daughter Priya Vandrevala, who has been staying in London for seven years with her husband Cyrus and two sons, had last year initiated arbitration proceedings against her father and younger brother Darshan for having allegedly violated an agreement for real estate development in India.

The case is concerning Hirco Plc, a London Stock Exchange AIM market listed firm, which Hiranandani had floated along with his married daughter to raise money for Indian- specific real estate projects in 2006. Hirco Plc had also floated a subsidiary called Hirco Developments Pvt Ltd to construct and sell homes in India.

Hiranandani had last year resigned from Hirco as chairman and Priya also relinquished the executive role in the company in 2010 leaving it to be run by a professional board. Priya’s contention is that her father and brother are depriving her of making profits by not utilising the money raised by Hirco to buy land in India in violation of an agreement. The loss to her is estimated to be around $300 million.

Hiranandani refused to comment stating that the matter is under arbitration.

Blair’s wife is a reputed barrister from London. The sources said there was no agreement per say to deploy funds generated by Priya compulsorily but it is part of an understanding. A family friend told Mail Today that it was matter of great sorrow for Hiranandani as he never treated his children differently. “ He (Niranjan) is also a loving father and caring brother. It is sad that his children are squabbling over money.”