NEW DELHI: In a fresh twist in the legal battle over the estate of the late Sona Comstar chairman Sunjay Kapur, family matriarch Rani Kapur has moved the Delhi High Court seeking the cancellation of the Rani Kapur Family Trust, which holds a significant stake in the auto-parts maker.

In her latest plea, reviewed by Mint, the 80-year-old alleges that the trust was created through fraud to strip her of her assets and control over the Sona Group. She has accused Sunjay Kapur’s widow, Priya Kapur, of being the “chief mastermind” behind the move and of quickly taking control of key group companies after her son’s death.

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Rani Kapur has claimed that after suffering a stroke in 2017, she was coerced into signing multiple documents, including blank papers, under the guise of routine administrative work. These, she says, were later misused to transfer her assets into the trust without her informed consent.

“The Defendant No.1 to 9 have collectively committed various acts of forgery, exercised undue influence, manipulated, coerced and impersonated the Plaintiff at different times in order to defraud the Plaintiff of all her and her remaining family members’ estate, legacy and belongings, in a manner so that the entire family legacy now vests with one branch of the family to the exclusion of the rest,” the plea states.

The Rani Kapur Family Trust owns 65% of Aureus Investment Private Ltd, which in turn holds a 28% promoter stake in Sona Comstar (listed as Sona BLW Precision Forgings Ltd). In 2019, the trust had informed Sona Comstar, then a privately held company, that its sole beneficiary was Sunjay Kapur.

The case is the latest chapter in the Kapur family feud, which surfaced publicly in September last year when Sunjay Kapur’s children from an earlier marriage, Samaira and Kiaan, challenged a will in the Delhi High Court that allegedly leaves his entire estate to his third wife, Priya Kapur. The family has been embroiled in disputes since Sunjay Kapur’s death on 12 June 2025.

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The conflict centres on Sunjay Kapur’s estimated ₹30,000 crore estate. Samaira and Kiaan are seeking a one-fifth share each in their father’s personal assets, claiming they were repeatedly denied a copy of the will, which reportedly leaves the entire estate to Priya Kapur.

Court filings indicate that the will surfaced during a meeting at Delhi’s Taj Mansingh Hotel on 30 July, attended by Priya Kapur, her lawyers, and executives of Aureus Investment. It is unclear whether the will has been formally registered.

In her petition, Rani Kapur said that she was the sole heir of her late husband, Dr. Surinder Kapur, the founder of the Sona Group, under a will probated by the Bombay High Court in 2016, which vested all shares, businesses, and properties in her. She alleged that, exploiting her ill health and dependence after her stroke, her son and Priya Kapur obtained her signatures on documents without explaining their purpose.

She claimed these signatures were later used to create and operate the Rani Kapur Family Trust via a trust deed dated 26 October 2017, which she said she never knowingly signed. When copies of the deed surfaced in 2025, she alleges a forensic examination revealed forged signatures, with different versions of the deed containing inconsistent signatures.

Rani Kapur also alleged that between 2017 and 2021, her shareholding and control over Sona Group companies and other assets were quietly transferred into the trust and related entities without her knowledge.

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Although she is listed as a settlor and trustee on paper, the trust names Sunjay Kapur, Priya Kapur and their children as beneficiaries, excluding her and her daughters’ branch of the family, which she says is contrary to her late husband’s will. She has also accused Priya Kapur of moving swiftly after Sunjay Kapur’s death to take over bank accounts, company boards, and voting rights, allegedly using her digital signatures and passing resolutions without her consent.

Rani Kapur has asked the court to declare the trust and its deed null and void, cancel the trust, restore all assets and shareholdings to their pre-2017 position, and order a full accounting. She has also sought interim directions to freeze the trust’s operations, prevent asset sales or transfers, maintain the status quo in the Sona Group, and preserve electronic records.