Sikh man, 86, sues son for not sharing family wealth

The owner of an 800-million-pound hotel in Britain is being sued by his father for not following the Sikh tradition of sharing family property.

Eighty-six-year-old Bal Mohinder Singh's son Jasminder, 62, head of the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotels, will face the charge of abandoning his father from his property Nov 19 in a court in London, the Daily Mail reported.

Bal Mohinder claims he and his son together turned a small family business into a high-class hotel chain worth 800 million pounds.

The old father said that they arrived in Britain from East Africa 40 years ago and started out running a post office in North London.

Bal Mohinder claims that his son helped him in the business. After qualifying as an accountant, Jasminder moved into the hotel business, buying a rundown hotel named B&B in Kensington in West London.

Jasminder reportedly sold his hotel at a profit and gradually bought a string of upmarket hotels, including the Vanderbilt and the Savoy Court in central London.

The men and their wives still share a home together near Ascot race course in Berkshire, about 15 km from London.

Bal Mohinder claims that in 2010, his son forced him to retire, and has failed to follow the 'Mitakshara' system, which implies a sharing of family wealth in accordance with the Sikh faith.

His lawyers argued that though the system was not part of English law, all family members chose to work under it and had, therefore, joined a "common intention constructive trust".

"As the head of the family, I have to be respected and the fact that I was forced to retire by Jasminder was very, very painful for me," Bal Mohinder was quoted as saying.

"Since then, my health has failed. My wife is unwell too. When I travel to the High Court I will be in an ambulance and it will be very difficult and stressful to have to give evidence against Jasminder," the ocrtogenerian said.

"I still love him. I always will. I will not hear anybody say a bad word against him... He has worked hard too. But as I said, this is about respect and carrying on the traditions in which I have brought Jasminder up."

The father has also accused his son of trying to force him and his mother out of the family home, Tetworth Hall, in Berkshire.

However, Jasminder Singh reportedly has claimed that he did not have a particularly religious upbringing.

He added that neither of his parents regarded the family to be living under an agreement to share property nor was there any such agreement, and that he played the leading part in building up the family business.