Hinduja Family's Truce Uncertain As Lawyers Say Rift Remains

The Hindujas last year had agreed to slam the brakes on copious litigation across Europe, putting on hold a feud that was tearing apart the once tightly knit British-Indian group.

The truce governing the billionaire Hinduja family was thrown into doubt in a London court after lawyers for the patriarch Srichand said the dispute between Gopichand Hinduja and his niece remained.

The Hindujas last year had agreed to slam the brakes on copious litigation across Europe, putting on hold a feud that was tearing apart the once tightly knit British-Indian group. But on Monday, a judge was told that the family was still haggling over the governance and succession planning of the business empire some 10 months later.

"At the time it was presented as a treaty and the war was over," Judge Anthony Hayden said. "There was rejoicing and singing. It's perhaps not astonishing that it's turned out to be something less than a treaty."

In the past, the four brothers, who have a collective net worth of about $14 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, had always presented a united front. But the family has been revealed to be deeply divided after details of court proceedings emerged.