Vijaypat Singhania, who passed away on 28 March 2026, acknowledged, with rare candour, in his autobiography, ‘An Incomplete Life’, the series of impulsive decisions and errors of judgment that led to his legacy at Raymond Ltd being wiped clean.
Located in Breach Candy—among the most expensive residential enclaves in the world—JK House stood on 1,916.65sqyds (square yards). Its duplex flats were routed through a subsidiary, Pashmina Holdings, and sublet to members of the Singhania family at nominal rents.
I was advised to put my shares into a discretionary trust to make sure the beneficiary couldn’t take advantage of my generosity. I would own and hold the trust till I died, after which Gautam would become the executor on the condition that he would pay certain sums of money to my wife, my younger brother’s widow Veena, and my daughter Shephali.
“He’s (Gautam Singhania) breaking up Raymond. It breaks my heart. But I don’t interfere. I don’t tell him what he should do. He has to live. I have lived my life. I have maybe 2-3 years left," Vijaypat says.
But for the father-son squabble, the importance of JK House would not have entered the public’ consciousness. 
(Ranganathan V is a CA and CS. He has over 45 years of experience in the corporate sector and in consultancy. For 17 years, he worked as Director and Partner in Ernst & Young LLP and three years as a senior advisor post-retirement, handling the task of building the Chennai and Hyderabad practice of E&Y in tax and regulatory space. Currently, he serves as an independent director on the board of four companies.)
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