Mumbai, Jan 15 (TOI) : Actor Karisma Kapoor married Sunjay Kapur for his money and "in a calculated and clinical manner", sponged off his family to pursue a lavish lifestyle, the Delhi-based industrialist has claimed in a fresh divorce petition filed in the Bandra family court.
The petition suggests that Karisma married Sunjay on the rebound in 2003 after her break-up with Abhishek Bachchan, and portrays her as the culprit in the troubled 11-year-long marriage with Sunjay.
"The respondent [Karisma] has failed not only as a wife and daughter-in-law, but also as a mother," it states.
The estranged couple have two children, Samaira and Kiaan, whose custody is at the centre of the court battle.
Sunjay has claimed that Karisma used the young kids as "pawns" and didn't let the Kapur family meet them frequently in her bid to claim more money. She even "cruelly deprived" Sunjay's ailing father access to Samaira and Kiaan, and he passed away six months "while pining for them".
Karisma's lawyer, Kranti Sathe, on Thursday termed Sunjay's accusations atrocious and false. "We will tell the court that he is causing great harm to the children's welfare by spreading false stories. We don't want trial by media," Sathe said.
Mirror was the first to report that Sunjay had filed a fresh divorce petition, through lawyers Aman and Priya Hingorani, in December. He alleges that the Bollywood star did not comply with consent terms of their separation, and has "extracted" substantial amount of money from him.
Apart from the children's custody, a trust fund set up for them is another contentious issue. Sunjay claims he reluctantly agreed to make Karisma the sole trustee, but she refused to accept terms that would have made her accountable for proper utilisation of the funds meant for Samaira and Kiaan.
"She further insisted that her successor would be her sister, Kareena Kapoor, to the exclusion of the petitioner and his side. Such terms ruled out the possibility of handing over the trust to the respondent," the petition states.
Sunjay said when he refused to accept her conditions, she blocked him from meeting their children.
The businessman, who heads Sona Koyo Steering Systems Ltd, has also claimed that Karisma chose her career over him and stayed in Mumbai "despite his pleading for her to join him in Delhi".
As their marriage fell apart, she tried to portray him as a substance abuser, an alcoholic and a cheating husband. She used her PR machinery to show him and his family in poor light even as she had an affair, the petition alleges.