Manoj Bharat Kishore Gupta vs Shashibala Bharat Kishore Gupta and 3 Ors. — Bombay HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

Manoj Bharat Kishore Gupta vs Shashibala Bharat Kishore Gupta and 3 Ors. — Bombay HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Suit No. 95 of 2024 disposed of in terms of the Consent Terms dated 1st May 2026 as modified by this order; all pending Interim Applications disposed of and interim orders passed therein vacated; parties to apply expeditiously for disposal of Testamentary Suit no. 149 of 2024; refund of Court fees, if any, as per Rule.

Issue for consideration

Whether the Consent Terms dated 1st May 2026, executed by only some of the parties, could bind Mr. Milan Bharat Gupta and Ms. Ila Bharat Gupta, who had not signed them. +1 more

Court's answer

Mr. Milan Bharat Gupta, although he had not signed the Consent Terms, is henceforth treated as having executed them and as bound by their contents, on his confirmation before the Court on video conferencing, with a similar assurance given to the learned Mediator and recorded in the Mediation Report.

Ratio / Principle

The Consent Terms stand modified to record that the property in New York, USA, presently in the name of Ms. Ila Bharat Gupta and her husband, belongs to them exclusively and does not form part of the estate of the deceased Bharat Kishore Gupta.

Key takeaways

Notwithstanding the bequests contained both in the Will and in the codicil of the deceased, all the amounts mentioned therein shall belong exclusively to the mother, viz. Shashibala Bharat Kishore Gupta.ratio¶65
Ms. Ila Bharat Gupta, in her capacity as executor of the last Will and Testament of the deceased dated 6th March 2014, stands discharged without the need to submit any accounts.ratio¶66
Clause 10(iii)(k) of the Consent Terms (the four siblings jointly and severally looking after their mother and ensuring regular stays, with travel expenses not debited to her account) is modified to the extent that Ms. Ila Bharat Gupta will try her level best to comply with the same to the extent possible by her.

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Bombay High Court (OOCJ), Suit No. 95 of 2024 (with Interim Applications Nos. 2255 of 2025 and 3678 of 2024), Manoj Bharat Kishore Gupta v. Shashibala Bharat Kishore Gupta — Order dated 5th May 2026, Farhan P. Dubash, J.: Following mediation conducted by Justice S. J. Kathawalla (Retd.), Sole Mediator appointed by order dated 6th March 2025, Consent Terms dated 1st May 2026 executed by some of the parties were accepted subject to modifications. The two non-signatory children — Mr. Milan Bharat Gupta and Ms. Ila Bharat Gupta — confirmed their assent before the Court over video conferencing and were treated as having executed the Consent Terms and bound by their contents; the scanned Consent Terms bear the signature of Ms. Ila's Advocate, Ms. Nelly Mehta, affixed on her behalf on 5th May 2026. Agreed modifications: (i) the New York, USA property standing in the name of Ms. Ila Bharat Gupta and her husband belongs to them exclusively and is excluded from the estate of the deceased Bharat Kishore Gupta; (ii) notwithstanding the bequests in the Will and the codicil, all amounts mentioned therein belong exclusively to the mother, Shashibala Bharat Kishore Gupta; (iii) Ms. Ila Bharat Gupta, executor of the Will dated 6th March 2014, is discharged without submitting any accounts; and (iv) the clause 10(iii)(k) undertaking of joint care of the mother is relaxed vis-a-vis Ms. Ila to the extent of her best efforts. The Suit and all pending Interim Applications are disposed of, interim orders stand vacated, and the parties undertook to seek disposal of Testamentary Suit no. 149 of 2024. Refund of Court fees as per Rule.

901.S/95/2024 Manoj Vs. Shashibala

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION

SUIT NO. 95 OF 2024

AMOLPREMNATHJADHAV Digitally signedby AMOLPREMNATHJADHAVDate:2026.05.0720:34:56+0530

Manoj Bharat Kishore Gupta

V/s.

Shashibala Bharat Kishore Gupta

Plaintiff

.. Defendant

WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 2255 OF 2025 WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 3678 OF 2024

IN SUIT NO. 95 OF 2024

Mr. Vivek Kantawala a/w. Mr. Manav Kantawala, Mr. Vivek M. Sharma i/b. Mr. Vivek M. Sharma for Plaintiff/Caveator.

Ms. Archana Kakade (through V.C.) a/w. Ms. Komal Naik for Defendant no. 1.

Ms. Nelly Mehta i/b. NMA Legal for Defendant no. 2.

Ms. Alka Gupta , Constituted Attorney of Ms. Nidhi Bharat Gupta Williams (through V.C.) present.

Ms. Ila Gupta (through V.C.) present.

Mr. Milan Gupta (through V.C.) present.

CORAM : FARHAN P. DUBASH, J.

DATE : 5^th MAY 2026

ORDER :

By an order dated 6^th March 2025, this Court had appointed Justice S.

J. Kathawalla, former Judge of this Court, as the Sole Mediator to endeavour to bring about a settlement between the parties to the dispute in the present suit.

Pursuant to the hearings held before the learned Mediator, Consent

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Terms dated 1st May 2026 have been drawn up and executed by some of the said parties. For the sake of ready reference, a scanned copy of the said Consent Terms is reproduced hereunder :

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A perusal of the Consent Terms reveal that it has been executed by Ms. Shashibala Bharat Kishore Gupta and her Advocate, Mr. Manoj Bharat Gupta and his Advocate and Ms. Nidhi Gupta Williams through her constituted Attorney since Ms. Nidhi Gupta Williams is presently in the USA. The Advocate of Ms. Nidhi Gupta Williams has also signed the Consent Terms. However, the Consent Terms have not been signed by Milan Bharat Gupta and Ila Bharat Gupta.

All four children of Ms. Sashibala Bharat Kishore Gupta namely Mr. Manoj Kumar Gupta, Mr. Milan Bharat Gupta, Ms. Nidhi Gupta Williams and Ms. Ila Bharat Gupta are present through video conferencing today and this order has been dictated in their presence.

Mr. Milan Bharat Gupta reiterates that he is in full agreement with the terms recorded in the Consent Terms and submits that the only reason why he has not affixed his signature thereto is because he is presently in the USA. He however confirms that he has gone through the Consent Terms and he is agreeable with each and every clause that is set out therein. The same is noted and accepted by the Court and he shall henceforth be treated to have executed the Consent Terms and be bound by its contents. He makes this statement before this Court today on video conferencing and the same is noted and accepted. A similar assurance was given by him to the learned Mediator also who has recorded this in the Mediation Report.

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After some discussions with the parties, it is agreed that the agreement that is contained in the Consent Terms shall stand modified albeit to the following limited extent :

(i) Parties agree that the property in New York, USA which is presently in the name of Ms. Ila Bharat Gupta and her husband, belongs to them exclusively and does not form part of the estate of the deceased Bharat Kishore Gupta.

(ii) Parties further agree that, notwithstanding the bequests that are contained both in the Will and also in the codicil of the deceased, all the amounts that are mentioned therein shall belong exclusively to their mother viz. Shashibala Bharat Kishore Gupta.

(iii) Parties agree that Ms. Ila Bharat Gupta, in her capacity as the executor of the last Will and Testament of the deceased dated 6^th March 2014 stands discharged without the need to submit any accounts.

(iv) In clause 10(iii)(k) of the Consent Terms, which provides that all four siblings agree and undertake to jointly and severally look after their mother, viz. Shashibala, and all her needs and desires, and to ensure that at least one of them comes and stays with her regularly and which further records their agreement that the expenses for

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such travel shall not be debited to Shashibala’s account, shall stand modified to the extent that Ms. Ila Bharat Gupta will try her level best to comply with the same to the extent possible by her.

Subject to these modifications, Ms. Ila Bharat Gupta, who is present on video conferencing today, also agrees to and confirms the arrangement recorded in the said Consent Terms and undertakes to be bound by the same. The same is noted and accepted by this Court and she shall henceforth be treated to have executed the Consent Terms and be bound by its contents. In furtherance thereof, the Consent Terms are signed just now by her Advocate Ms. Nelly Mehta on her behalf. The Scanned Consent Terms reproduced above, thus bears the signature of the Advocate of Ms. Nelly Mehta on 5^th May 2026.

Considering this, Suit no. 95 of 2024 shall stand disposed of in terms of these Consent Terms as modified by this order.

All pending Interim Applications taken out in the present Suit, if any, also stand disposed of in terms of the above order, and all interim orders passed, therein also stand vacated.

Parties also agree that in light of this order, Testamentary Suit no. 149 of 2024 may also be disposed of and they undertake to make the necessary application in that regard before the relevant Bench hearing the said assignment. This shall be done as expeditiously as possible.

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Refund of Court fees, if any, as per Rule.

( FARHAN P. DUBASH, J. )

Ajay Jadhav

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