Together they turned a small family business into a high-class hotel chain worth £800 million.
But on Tuesday Bal Mohinder Singh, 86, and his elder son, Jasminder, are due to take opposing sides in a High Court battle.
Jasminder, 62, head of the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotels empire, is being sued by his father who accuses him of abandoning the Sikh tradition of sharing family property by excluding him from the business.
Amazingly, the men and their wives still share a home together near Ascot racecourse in Berkshire.
Mr Singh Snr arrived in Britain from East Africa 40 years ago and started out running a Post Office in North London.
His son helped in the business and after he qualified as an accountant they moved into hotels, buying a rundown B&B in Kensington, West London, which they refurbished and sold on at a profit.
They gradually traded up and bought a string of upmarket hotels, including the Vanderbilt and the Savoy Court in central London.
But Mr Singh Snr claims that in 2010, his son forced him to retire, and has failed to follow the ‘Mitakshara’ system, from the Sikh and Hindu traditions, which implies a sharing of family wealth.
The system is not part of English law, but his lawyers argue that all family members chose to work under it and had therefore joined a ‘common intention constructive trust’.
Mr Singh Snr said he was ‘devastated’ by his son’s behaviour.
He added: ‘As the head of the family, I have to be respected and the fact that I was forced to retire by Jasminder was very, very painful for me. Since then my health has failed. My wife is unwell too. When I travel to the High Court I will be in an ambulance and it will be very difficult and stressful to have to give evidence against Jasminder.
‘I still love him. I always will. I will not hear anybody say a bad word against him … He has worked hard too. But as I said, this is about respect and carrying on the traditions in which I have brought Jasminder up.’
It is understood that Jasminder Singh claims that he did not have a particularly religious upbringing, that neither of his parents regarded the family to be living under an agreement to share property nor was there any such agreement, and that he played the leading part in building up the family business.
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Source: Daily Mail