The Bombay High Court on Thursday has stayed the further sale of former Raymond Group chairman emeritus Vijaypat Singhania’s autobiography An Incomplete Life. Singhania is embroiled in a legal battle with his estranged son Gautam Singhania, who is the chairman of Raymond Limited now, and the company over the book’s explosive contents.
Justice Surendra Tavade passed the interim order on a contempt petition filed by Raymond Limited. Vijaypat Singhania and Gautam Singhania have been in a bitter standoff after the February 2015 transfer of Rs 1,000 crore worth shares by the elder Singhania to his son.
Raymond moved court saying the book was surreptitiously released on November 1 and is against Vijaypat Singhania, Macmillan Publishers India Private Limited and Amazon India Ltd.
The petition, filed through advocates Kartik Nayar, Rishab Kumar and Krish Kalra, claimed Vijaypat Singhania and his publishers had breached an April 2019 order issued by a Thane sessions court in which an injunction was issued against the release of the autobiography.
The company on Thursday approached the high court seeking urgent reliefs claiming Vijaypat Singhania had “surreptitiously” released the 232-page book on Sunday (October 31).
In 2019, Raymond and Gautam Singhania had filed suits in a Thane district sessions court and a civil court in Mumbai, seeking an injunction against the book for its contents which, they said, were defamatory and reveals company secrets. In April 2019, the Thane court had granted the injunction against the book’s release.