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PUNE, JUNE 4, 2016 | www.thegoldensparrow.com
THE INDOMITABLE
HUMAN SPIRIT
Celebrated playwright’s children embroiled in court drama
Children of Asif Currimbhoy, better known as ‘India’s first authentic voice in the theatre’, and Suriaya, granddaughter of a Baronet, fight over their property worth crores BY BAPU DEEDWANIA @TGSWeekly
Living with disability can be a burden, a cross too heavy to bear, in an age when everyone wants to look and be perfect in every sense. But there are those who have not let the yoke of disability weigh them down, but instead, have risen above their circumstances to attain a life that is both constructive and rewarding See p08-09
Two decades after noted playwright Asif Currimbhoy passed away, his children are at war over property worth Rs 100 crores. The children Tarik, Tabrik and Naheed – all established in their fields – are based out of New York, Delhi and Mumbai respectively. They are fighting it out in Bombay High Court, each claiming a stake to the property left behind by their parents Asif and Suraiya Currimbhoy. Asif Currimbhoy was born to an aristocratic family in 1928 and went to study in the United States of America. During his lifetime he wrote over 30 plays, which were performed all in the US, England and India. Because of his plays on subjects like race, class, gender, politics, capitalism, poverty, colonisation and human relationships, the notable Indian English playwright of the post-independence period was called ‘India’s fi rst authentic voice in the theatre’. He married Suraiya in 1951. While the noted playwright passed away in 1995, his wife died in 2015. Their children – sons Tabrik (63), Tarik (61) and daughter Naheed (53) – are now engaged in a bitter legal battle. Tabrik, a former entrepreneur is author of a political thriller Prisoner, Jailor, Prime Minister. He married Nelofer, daughter of Shahnaz Husain, best known for her beauty products. The couple is settled in Delhi. Tarik is a noted architect based out of New York and runs an architectural design fi rm, which has worked on several projects across the globe. He is married to Nayana, a noted author. The couple are based out of New York. Little is known about Naheed, who lives with her husband Amit Moitra in South Mumbai. At the heart of the battle between the siblings is property worth crores (actual value is yet to be determined) – which includes real estate in several cities across India, shares in over 100 companies and four bank lockers – all left behind by their mother Suraiya, who passed away in August 2015. Suriaya Currimbhoy’s wealth came to her from her husband, father and grandfather Sir Currimbhoy Ebrahim, who was awarded the title of Baronet by the British Crown in 1905.
Suraiya and Asif Currimbhoy
Tabrik and Naheed have produced two separate wills left by their mother, while Tarik is claiming that they are both forged. Case papers perused by TGS reveal that soon after Suraiya’s death, the siblings began to stake their claim over her property. Ten days after her death, the eldest son Tabrik claimed that that she left behind a will giving him everything she owned. The will Tabrik has produced was made in May 2015, months before her death. At the time of her death, Suraiya was staying with Tabrik and Nelofar. Naheed, the youngest sibling, produced another will of her mother, made in February 2014. In this will Suraiya gave away a plush flat worth around Rs 24 crores in Bakhtawar building, South Mumbai to Naheed. Naheed lives with her husband Amit Moitra in the same flat, while her two daughters are abroad. The youngest sibling along with her daughters, who were appointed as executors in Suraiya’s 2014 will, moved for probate through her solicitors Jhangiani, Narula & Associates a month after her mother’s death. Probate is a mandatory legal process to validate a will left by a deceased person. Continued on p6