£8m settlement in Patak row

Two sisters were today celebrating an £8million victory in their High Court battle for a fair share of the Patak Spice empire.

They had sued their brother for allegedly cheating them by using a historic Hindu custom which strips women of any rights of inheritance.

In a bitter six-week court case, Chitralekha Mehta and Anila Shastri accused brother Kirit Pathak of being devious and dishonest, while he claimed the women had created a forged document to bring their case and were motivated by greed and opportunism.

Even the mother of the warring siblings weighed in behind her son, accusing her daughters in court of being "wicked, jealous and malicious".

But today John McDonnell QC, representing the sisters, said a settlement had been agreed pending "one or two practical matters".

No details were revealed in court but each sister had been claiming 6.15 per cent of the £54million company, which would amount to about £7million in shares. Legal sources said additional features in the settlement will take the joint payout to more than £8million.

At the heart of the feud are the 1,250 shares the siblings' late father and founder of the firm, Laxmishanker Pathak, gave to each of his four sons and two daughters in 1974.

In 1989 the daughters handed their shares to their mother believing, they say, that it was for safe-keeping and that they would get them back. Instead, the court heard, Mrs Pathak gave them to Kirit. He and his mother claimed his sisters' shares did not belong to them "as among Hindus a daughter inherits none of the family business".

Outside court Mrs Mehta, 56, said: "We are delighted. There is nothing in the Hindu culture or religion that approaches what Kirit based his defence on. I think what we have achieved is good for women, not just Asian women in particular, but for all women."

Her younger brother Yogesh, who flew from the US to support his sisters in court, said: "The issue of women in Hindu culture that Kirit put forward was an insult to the whole

family and women everywhere. There are a lot of female cousins in the family that have shares in the company." Kirit Pathak was not in court today.

The sisters argued that Indian law now gives an equal right to Hindu daughters and their thoroughly anglicised family should not adhere to the old custom.

The settlement will be made official after the agreement has been translated into Gujarati for the final approval of the mother of the family, Shantagaury Pathak, 77.

The family firm is the biggest producer of Indian food in Britain. Laxmishanker Pathak dropped the "h" from the company name to make it easier to pronounce.

In 1989 Kirit bought out his brothers and his parents. He and wife Meena then turned Patak into the huge concern we know today.