MANOJ DHARMADAS KALWANI v BHARAT DHARMADAS KALWANI

Case Significance

Manoj Dharmadas Kalwani v Bharat Dharmadas Kalwani [2024] SGHC 70 was decided by the General Division of the High Court of Singapore on 15 March 2024, in Suit No 1123 of 2020, with judgment reserved by Wong Li Kok, Alex JC after hearings in November 2023 and on 23 January 2024. The suit was a dispute between two brothers of the Kalwani family, the family behind the Novelty group, who had worked together to grow the family business. The plaintiff, Manoj Dharmadas Kalwani ("Mr Manoj"), claimed that he had loaned dividends to the defendant, Bharat Dharmadas Kalwani ("Mr Mike"), while the defendant claimed that the sum was in fact a gift. According to the judgment, ancillary claims were also raised, including allegations of unpaid wine that one brother had allegedly bought on behalf of the other and unpaid car number plates that one brother had transferred to the other.

The court observed that because the dispute involved brothers in a family business context, the documentary evidence was somewhat lacking, and the task was to parse the informal dealings between the parties to discern the true underlying transactions. The catchwords record that the case concerned an oral contract, a loan agreement, pleadings, unjust enrichment, total failure of consideration, and the extension of a limitation period by acknowledgment. The plaintiff was represented by counsel including Chai Yui-Kai Wesley, Yeo En Fei Walter and Zhu Ming-Ren Wilson of Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, with the defendant represented by Pardeep Singh Khosa, Leow Wei Xiang Joel and Tan Jun Hao of Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC. The judgment also referenced the Evidence Act and the Limitation Act.