Karisma Kapoor posted a brief but pointed tribute on Instagram Stories on June 12, marking the first death anniversary of her ex-husband Sunjay Kapur. “12/6/2025 Sunjay in our hearts forever,” the actress wrote against a black background, accompanied by heart emojis. The quiet remembrance belied a raging legal war over the late industrialist’s estate, estimated at Rs 30,000 crore.
Sunjay Kapur, who served as chairman of auto components giant Sona Comstar, collapsed during a polo match in Windsor, England, on June 12, 2025. He was 53. Initial reports suggested he may have swallowed a bee, though subsequent medical findings attributed his death to natural causes linked to underlying heart-related conditions. The sudden death left behind a sprawling business empire and a fractured family with competing claims to his fortune.
Karisma and Sunjay married in September 2003 at the Kapoor family’s Krishna Raj Bungalow in Mumbai. They had two children, daughter Samaira, born in 2005, and son Kiaan, born in 2010, before their divorce was finalized in 2016 after a separation filing in 2014. Sunjay married socialite Priya Sachdev in 2017, and the couple had a son named Azarias. Priya also has a daughter, Safira, from a previous relationship.
The inheritance dispute ignited almost immediately after Sunjay’s death. Samaira and Kiaan, represented by Karisma as their legal guardian, filed a civil suit in Delhi High Court alleging that Priya Sachdev Kapur produced a forged will designed to grant her family control over most of the assets. Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the children, pointed to what he called significant contradictions in the document, including its lack of registration, the unexplained deletion of Sunjay’s mother Rani Kapur as a beneficiary, and the use of feminine pronouns when referring to the male testator, according to Republic World.
The children have since sought call detail records, mobile phone records, and a forensic examination of the disputed will. The Delhi High Court acknowledged that CDR preservation is time-sensitive given limited telecom retention periods, and on February 10, 2026, suggested the parties consider mediation. On April 30, 2026, the Supreme Court of India intervened, and the Delhi High Court issued an order restraining Priya from dealing with Sunjay’s assets pending resolution.
Priya Sachdev has rejected what she called demands “beyond their entitlement” and accused Samaira and Kiaan of aligning with their 80-year-old grandmother Rani Kapur against her. The dispute has also drawn in Sunjay’s sister Mandhira Kapur Smith, who has alleged that a family trust was created through “forgery and manipulation.” Priya filed a defamation case against Mandhira in response. The case has split one of India’s wealthiest industrial families into openly warring factions.
Kareena Kapoor Khan, Karisma’s younger sister, also acknowledged the anniversary. In an earlier social media post honoring Sunjay, Kareena wrote: “My Samu and Kiu’s dad is protecting you always and forever,” using the children’s family nicknames. The Kapoor family has rallied around the children throughout the legal proceedings.
Priya Sachdev posted her own tribute on the anniversary. “A year without you. Still the first thought in the morning and the last thought at night,” she wrote, a message that projected private grief even as the courtroom battle intensified. The parallel tributes from a divorced wife and a widow underscored the tangled personal dynamics at the heart of one of India’s most closely watched celebrity estate disputes.
Karisma Kapoor, who received a reported Rs 70 crore alimony settlement in the 2016 divorce, has not personally filed claims on the estate. The suit is brought in the names of Samaira and Kiaan, who assert that their father had repeatedly assured them of their rightful share. Whether the will is upheld or struck down will determine whether the Rs 30,000 crore fortune passes largely to Priya’s side or is redistributed among all of Sunjay’s heirs.
