An 86-year-old wheelchair-bound Parsi widow has moved the Bombay High Court alleging that her nephew duped her and added his name to her husband’s shares and property worth crores, and that since 1997 he is a joint holder on those shares with her.
Sheroo Gazdar, filed a suit alleging that Dinshaw Panbthaky (56) has misappropriated her funds. She says that she has known him since over two decades and he has always helped and taken care of her and her movable and immovable assets.
Mr. Panbthaky, a retired man after 34 years of service at Godrej and Boyce, said Ms. Gazdar was his mother’s childhood friend. In his reply, he said that he had not received any money from the amounts received by Ms. Gazdar by way of sale of her shares or from its dividends.
Further, he claimed that she had always treated him like a son, and even told him to take over her flat after her death. She had also included his name in her shares but which still stood in her name. Moreover, in 1997 an application was made to add Mr. Panbthaky’s name in the ration card of the Gazdars.
Mr. Panbthaky also said he had not cheated Ms. Gazdar in any manner. He had acted on the power of attorney executed by her in his favour and did so to help her and not benefit from it. He said it was her other relatives who had now come into the scene that were trying to malign him, and had brainwashed Ms. Gazdar to file a suit against him.
On Tuesday, Justice S.J. Kathawalla met the two in his chambers to ascertain the situation and will hear the matter on September 4.
