Jaidev Thackeray opposes Balasaheb’s will, says ‘Aishwarya not my son’

Aishwarya is the only grandchild of late Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray who has gotten a share of his property.

Jaidev Thackeray, the estranged son of the late Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray, claimed on Wednesday that Aishwarya is not his son. According to Balasaheb’s will, Aishwarya has been bequeathed the first floor of Matoshree, the Thackerays’ official residence. Aishwarya is the only grandchild of Balasaheb’s who has gotten a share of his property.

A single bench of the Bombay high court comprising Justice Gautam Patel was hearing a testamentary suit of the Thackeray family’s, in which Jaidev has opposed Balasaheb’s will.

Read: Jaidev says Bal Thackeray wanted him to be his political heir

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s lawyer, Rohit Kapadia, questioned Jaidev for a third day on Wednesday.

Jaidev said that after getting divorced from Smita Thackeray in 2004, he often visited Matoshree and stayed there, adding that he never stayed on the first floor. Kapadia asked him whether anybody had prevented him from staying on the first floor. To this, Jaidev replied: “No. It’s because most of the time it (the first floor) was closed.”

Kapadia then asked: “Have you (Jaidev) ever asked your father about who was staying there ” Jaidev answered: “Yes, I asked my father about it.

He told me that someone named Aishwarya was staying there.” Kapadia further asked Jaidev whether Aishwarya was his son or not, to which the latter replied: “No, he is not my son.”

Jaidev said: “After returning to the renovated Matoshree bungalow, Smita and I used to fight with each other. It was then that my father advised me to live at my flat in Kalina for a few days. I went there, but never returned to Matoshree to reside there permanently.”

Jaidev added that when he got married to Anuradha in the year 1997, nobody from the Thackeray family attended his wedding. When Kapadia asked him whether he had invited them, he said: “No, because it happened suddenly.”

Jaidev also said that he was settled in his life, which is why he had never thought of returning to Matoshree. But he often visited Balasaheb and stayed with him, he added.

Mr Kapadia said he had found certain contradictions between Jaidev’s statement and the affidavit that had been filed by him in the court.

Jaidev’s testimony will continue on Thursday.