Westlands estate beneficiaries seek succession cause reinstatement
In an application filed at the High Court, Manojkumar Ratilal Sanghani is also seeking orders requiring executors Rajendra Ratilal and Jayant Rach to file income and expense records for the deceased’s assets listed in the will dated March 2006.
The petitioner also wants the court to revoke the grant of letters of administration with written will issued to the two executors on August 7, 2008. He further wants the court to appoint him as Administrator De Bonis Non.
The beneficiaries also want the court to reinstate their succession cause. They are seeking a review of the orders issued on May 30, 2022, which dismissed the matter.
Beneficiaries accuse executors of intermeddling
The applicant says the two executors have failed to act in the best interests of the estate and its beneficiaries, as required by law and their duties as executors.
“Over 16 years since their appointment as estate executors, they have never accounted to the beneficiaries for their administration of the estate or given updates/accounts on any administrative actions they have undertaken,” Manojkumar said.
He alleges that the two executors have sold estate assets without a confirmed grant. He also accuses them of mishandling bank accounts held by the deceased and collecting rental income from properties to which the beneficiaries are entitled.
According to the applicant, the executors have also failed to disclose relevant information to the beneficiaries.
Manojkumar seeks appointment as estate administrator
The applicant, who is representing other beneficiaries, also wants the court to appoint him as administrator of the multi-million estate after an evaluation.
“It is in the best interest that I am appointed Administrator De Bonis Non so as to conclude the estate administration, only after the current executors account on the estate and a valuation is done for clarity purposes and to avoid their mistakes being visited upon me in future,” Manojkumar said.
He wants the court to direct a valuation of the entire estate.
Beneficiaries seek estate audit and accounts
In court documents, the petitioner wants the court to order an audit of the estate and require the presentation of its accounts.
The accounts would include funds held in bank accounts, assets sold and their value, as well as assets remaining in the estate.
The petitioner says the information would give the court and beneficiaries a clear picture of the current state of the estate following alleged intermeddling by the current executors.
Dispute follows dismissal of succession cause
In the application dated December 13, 2024, the beneficiaries state that Gorhandas died on May 22, 2007, in Nairobi.
He left a written will dated March 3, 2006, in which he appointed Rajendra Ratilal Sanghani and Jayant Rach as executors.
The beneficiaries say the two executors failed to prosecute the summons for confirmation of grant dated October 15, 2018.
They allege that the executors failed to act within and after the lapse of 10 years from the date the court issued the grant of letters of administration with written will.
The court eventually dismissed the succession cause for want of prosecution on May 30, 2022.
Executors accused of selling estate assets
Manojkumar says the executors failed to administer the estate diligently and repeatedly abused their duties.
He alleges that they sold assets belonging to the late Gorhandas. He specifically cites property at 95 Niclause Road, Leicester, in the United Kingdom.
According to Manojkumar, the executors sold the property without obtaining proper authority through a confirmed grant.
The aggrieved son also says the executors purported to give him Sh600,000 as his share. However, he alleges that they failed to disclose the full sale and cost transactions.
Beneficiaries demand accounts of estate funds
According to Manojkumar, the executors have also refused to account for funds held in bank accounts in Kenya and the UK by his late father.
He says the beneficiaries have not received the information or their respective shares from the estate.
The petitioner further alleges that the executors have been leasing estate property off Westlands Road. He claims the rental income has accumulated to more than Sh100 million.
According to the petitioner, the executors have never disclosed this information to the beneficiaries despite provisions in the will.
Lawyer seeks reinstatement of succession cause
Through lawyer Nelima Walubengo, Manojkumar says the two executors failed to attend court. Their absence eventually led to the dismissal of the succession cause for want of prosecution.
He maintains that the grant was never confirmed and wants the court to reinstate the succession cause.
The beneficiaries say the executors have yet to complete the distribution of the estate.
They further accuse the executors of intermeddling with the estate and failing to seek confirmation of the grant, which they say has prejudiced the estate and its beneficiaries.
