Earlier this year, the Sondhis had moved the High Court claiming illegal apportionment of Vijay Sondhi’s equity stake in the firm by the other Partners. They had also claimed that being the heirs of Sondhi, they had a right to take part in the conduct of business of the firm, as per the provisions of the Partnership Act.
On June 1, the Court had referred the dispute to arbitration after mediation talks between the parties had failed. In his order, Justice Prateek Jalan had made it clear that pending the decision of the sole arbitrator, Sondhi’s 20.8% stake in the firm will not be disturbed. It was also ordered that the induction of any new equity partners to the firm will be subject to the prior approval of the arbitrator, Justice Deepak Gupta. If any of the existing partners seek to resign from the partnership firm, they may do so, and the proportion of their share which would have gone to Sondhi will be maintained undisturbed, the Court had further stated.
Source: Barandbench
