London, Feb 23: An 84-year-old Sikh man has sued his son, one of Britain's wealthiest men, for 100 million pounds for trying to push him and his wife out on the streets and for keeping the hotel business to himself.
Jasminder Singh, 60, chairman of Radisson Edwardian Hotels, is accused of renouncing the Sikh tradition of sharing family wealth and barring his parents from their multi-million pound business, the Daily Express reported.
His father Bal Mohinder Singh, stands to take a third of the family fortune if he wins the High Court battle against his son, worth an estimated 415 million pounds.
Bal, in a statement to the court in central London yesterday, said he and his wife were “deeply ashamed that Jasminder should publicly renounce his cultural heritage”.
The system of joint family ownership of all assets is based on religious teaching and widely practised by Sikh and Hindu communities around the world, he said, adding: “For Jasminder to deny that and claim all the credit and ownership for himself will be shocking to wide sections of those communities. That is why his mother and I are so ashamed”.
Bal also accused his son of trying to force his parents out of the 10 million pounds house they share near Ascot racecourse in Berkshire.
Jasminder denies ever having been told by his parents they were a “joint Hindu family” and that property acquired by any of them was “joint family property”.
He also denied having a particularly religious upbringing, the paper said adding the case is expected to go to trial later this year.
