New Delhi:
Ex Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is at war – with sister YS Sharmila Reddy – over an inheritance worth crores, including shares (worth around Rs 19,000 each as of Thursday afternoon) in Saraswati Power and other firms, and 20 acres of land in Yelahanka, a Bengaluru suburb.
The siblings’ dirty laundry made headlines this week after they exchanged letters – in which they each invoked the spirit of their late father, former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, while accusing the other of “deceitful (and) deeply hurtful” actions, and belittling their father’s memory.
Jagan Reddy and Sharmila Reddy were once allies; Ms Reddy campaigned hard for her brother’s YSR Congress in the run-up to Assembly by-polls in June 2012, in which the party won 15 of 18 seats. She also campaigned for the YSRCP before the 2019 Assembly election Jagan Reddy won handsomely.
Cracks in the relationship, though, became apparent soon after. In 2021 Ms Reddy floated her YSR Telangana party that merged with the Congress before the April-June general election.
Ms Reddy was made the Congress’ Andhra boss, setting up a direct fight with her brother.
The brother vs sister spat has also rolled over into a legal battle after Mr Reddy wrote to the National Company Law Tribunal, to red-flag the “illegal” transfer of shares in Saraswati Power.
Jagan’s August Letter
Mr Reddy has claimed the shares were “given to me in trust by a gift deed” and that he had “gifted” them to their mother, YS Vijayalakshmi, “with the understanding that the transfer… would happen post court clearance (and) with execution of further appropriate documentation…”
But these shares, the former Chief Minister raged in his letter – in which he professed his “love and affection” nine times in two pages – had been transferred by his sister to herself in a “deceitful manner (that) creates potential legal complications for me”. These shares, he said, would now “revert to me as the original and continuing owner and beneficiary of the interest…”
READ | Property Dispute Between Jagan Reddy, Sister Now Legal Battle
The YSR Congress boss also declared void the MoU he signed in 2019 – in which he wrote of his intention “to effect transfer of certain properties to you… out of my love and affection for you as my sibling, at a point of time in future”. His letter, Mr Reddy said, was to formally notify his sister that
“I have no further intent to act upon my original intent as expressed in the MoU…”
Sharmila’s September Reply
A few weeks later Ms Reddy wrote to “Jagan anna (elder brother)” and expressed “serious objection”, flagging their father’s “unambiguous” instruction “that all properties acquired with family resources during his lifetime should be divided equally between his four grandchildren”.
Ms Reddy accused her brother of agreeing to that commitment when their father was alive but “after our late father’s death you refused…” Their mother, she said, was a witness to his promise.
READ | “Worried About My Brother’s Mental State”: YS Sharmila Jabs Jagan Reddy
Ms Reddy also appeared to mock her brother over the “love and affection” protestations, saying any transfer of assets under such claims and listed in the MoU were “only in partial fulfillment” of their father’s wishes. She said she had allowed him to “bulldoze” his way into retaining majority shares in Bharathi Cements and Sakshi, and settled for the transfer of assets “at a point of time in the future”.
READ | Jagan Reddy Is Not YS Reddy’s Successor, Says Sister Sharmila
She dismissed his intention to scrap the MoU, saying it has no legal authority.
“You have done what our dear father would never have imagined… filed cases against his dear wife (our mother) and daughter (myself) to deprive his family of their legitimate share…”
On the vexed issue of Saraswati Power shares, Ms Reddy claimed the intention had been to transfer on signing of the MoU “but you (Jagan Reddy) failed to fulfill this promise for several years…”
The MoU is a “continuing and binding document”, Ms Reddy said telling her brother his intention to withdraw from it “has no legal significance”. “I will hold you responsible for executing every term”.
“My Career, My Choice”
YS Sharmila Reddy also ripped into her brother for apparently trying to “dictate the terms of my professional conduct”, and the suggestion that her breaking away from the YSR Congress could have any bearing on “(our) dear father’s instructions for all his grandkids to have an equal share in assets”.
NCLAT’s Summons
On the petition about the transfer of Saraswati Power shares, the tribunal has issued notices to all concerned and set November 8 as the next date of hearing.
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