A grand gift

Lady Jena Duggan’s will, drawn up when she was 96 years old, leaving her estate to her grandchildren, Dr Feroze and Ferina Duggan, was challenged in the Bombay High Court (BHC) by her estranged daughter-in-law Jean, wife of her younger son. At stake was the premium property Lawnside, a 37,000 sq ft bungalow on Malabar Hill built by legendary eye specialist Sir Jamshedji Duggan and valued at Rs 150 crore today. Jean contended before the court that Feroze had influenced Lady Duggan, conspired with one of the executors of the will and that at such an advanced age the testatrix could not be thinking straight.

On August 3, 2011, the BHC noted that there was no reason to believe that a 96-year-old could not have a "sound mind,” while ruling in favor of Duggan’s grandson, a doctor residing in England. The entire case, with the arguments and order of Justice Roshan Dalvi, is available on the BHC website.

Lawnside, Lady Duggan’s bungalow at Malabar Hill

Duggan made her will in 1993, five months before she passed away. Noted jurist Nani Palkhivala was an attesting witness. In the will she bequeathed half her estate, including Lawnside and other immovable properties to Feroze, and the rest to his half-sister Ferina. But there was a caveat. If Ferina married her friend, a Russian diplomat, she would lose her share to Feroze. Ferina did marry her diplomat as a result of which Feroze became the sole beneficiary, reported Mumbai Mirror (MM) in its issue of August 5, 2011.

It was Jean’s contention that in February-March 1993, about a month before the will was made, Feroze came to Bombay to meet his grandmother. Dalvi noted that though the reasons for this visit after a hiatus of 14 years could not be "entirely selfless,” it did "win over her affection which was earlier breached and lost” and that Duggan had no one else closer to her heart from amongst her descendants, reports MM. The judge ruled that just because Duggan was 96 years old at the time the will was made is no reason to believe that she was not of sound mind. Jean, who worked at the Breach Candy Hospital, referred to Dug­gan’s medical report but was unable to produce the relevant papers.

Relying on a letter written to Feroze by his grandmother in which she mentions how happy she was to welcome her grandson at the bungalow, the court ruled, "This letter, written less than a month before the will was executed, shows the most satisfactory soundness of mind of Lady Duggan.” With the BHC’s order, Feroze is now the sole owner of the valuable property after a 17-year-long court case.