Kishan Kumar Denies Tony Deal

The family feud within Super Cassettes Industries (SCI) and the fight to control one of the SCI group companies resurfaced yesterday with Kishan Kumar, brother of late Gulshan Kumar, yesterday stating that his estranged brother Gopal Krishan's entry into the premises of Tony Electronics will be "illegal".

He further stated that Gopal Krishan has no control over Tony Electronics and "in case, he tries to enter the premises of Tony Electronics -- in spite of the family agreement made on February 21 -- it will be against the agreement and illegal".

Kishan Kumar also refuted claims about his having given away shareholdings of Tony Electronics to Gopal Krishan.

Tony Electronics, which produces tapes for audio and video cassettes, has for long been the bone of contention between the two warring factions of the family.

While Gopal Krishan has been claiming that he has gained total control over the company, Kishan Kumar stated that no such agreement has been reached at.

Gulshan Kumar's son Bhushan Kumar had recently said that the dispute between the family members has been sorted out and Gopal Krishan has been allowed to use the much-coveted T-Series logo as well as control two group companies -- Gopal Soaps and Rajni Industries.

But according to Gopal Krishan, he has been given total control over Tony Electronics. This was done in exchange of his shares in Lakshmi Studio, Mandakini (producing the Ganga brand of mineral water) and Super Cassettes.

Krishan had claimed to have given away 4.75 lakh shares in Lakshmi Studio, 2.5 lakh shares in Mandakini and 72 shares in SCI to his younger brother Kishan Kumar, who, in turn, has given Kishan 52,470 shares in Tony Electronics.

Krishan had even stated that now things have come back to normal and that he would continue to supply tapes to Super Cassettes. With this recent development, the family feud seems to have gone a full circle and both the factions are again at daggers drawn.

It may be recalled that Bhushan was earlier planning to initiate civil and criminal proceedings against his estranged uncle for using the T-Series logo.

In a legal notice slapped on Gopal Krishan early last month, Bhushan had granted him 30 days time to either withdraw usage of the 'artistic work' and 'trademark' of T-Series or improve the quality of products being manufactured and marketed with the T-Series logo.

"Gopal Krishan has not been taking proper care of the companies -- Tony Electronics, Gopal Soaps and Rajni Industries. Due to his mismanagement, the companies have not been performing well.

What's more, even the quality of the products that are being produced by him are deteriorating which is having a bad effect on the T-Series logo as these products are being marketed with this logo.

We (Bhushan and his two uncles -- Darshan Kumar and Kishan Kumar) have asked Gopal Krishan to withdraw the logo within 30 days," Bhushan had said.

Bhushan had stated that the mismanagement is resulting in loss of reputation of the trademark and logo of 'T-Series'.

He had also alleged that instead of concentrating on improving the businesses in hand, "he (Gopal Krishan) chose to irritate the family members with various demands".

"There is already a lot of confusion in his company and I cannot risk the image of my company by associating the logo or the trademark with him or his companies," he added.