High Court Investigates Man Claiming to Be 'Like a Son' to Deceased Parsi Heiress
In a recent case before the Bombay High Court, a middle-aged Parsi man has claimed to be 'like a son' to the deceased Hilla Dadysett, a prominent Parsi heiress, and is seeking a share in her valuable property at Kemp’s Corner. The court, however, is skeptical of his claims.
Parsi HeiressBombay High CourtMonte RosaHilla DadysettKhushroo Behramshaw MogalReal Estate MumbaiSep 21, 2025
Real Estate Mumbai:Mumbai: In many a testamentary petition before the Bombay High Court, where there is a will, there is another one. Recently, when a Parsi centenarian who had no descendants died, leaving behind her sprawling bungalow at Kemp’s Corner to charity, a middle-aged Parsi man turned up before the court claiming to be “just like the deceased’s son”, and asking for a share in the property.
Hilla Dadysett, the last member of one of the city’s most prominent Parsi families, died on May 22, 2023, leaving behind a will that bequeathed her home, Monte Rosa, a 3599.54 square metre bungalow at Kemps’ Corner valued at approximately ₹250 crore, to charity. While the testamentary petition seeking a probate of her will by its executors, Hoshang and Rashna Khan, was pending in the Bombay High Court, 51-year-old resident of Ganesh Galli, Parel, Khushroo Behramshaw Mogal, filed a caveat saying he had been “like a son” to Dadysett, and sought her share in the bungalow. To back his claim, Mogal produced a will dated March 22, 2023, claiming it was Dadysett’s latest will and should hence prevail over her previous will and its four codicils.
The court, however, felt that even a plain reading of the will produced by Mogal “raises serious suspicion”. “Prima Facie, this case appears to be a posthumous pursuit of riches unearned and a concerted attempt by an unrelated party to usurp the estate,” said the order by Justice Kamal Khata of the Bombay High Court dated August 14. Justice Khata also ordered the Prothonotary and Senior Master of the court to file a complaint against the caveator Khushroo Behramshaw Mogal before a magistrate for criminal offenses under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and sections of the Indian Penal Code for falsifying evidence and committing forgery.
In his order, the judge further said, “The phrases ‘just like my son’ and ‘my nearest person’ (in the will produced by Mogal) appear to have been craftily employed to mislead the reader into believing that the deceased (Dadysett) shared a close relationship with the caveator (Mogal).”
The lawyers representing Hoshang and Rashna Khan, executors of Dadysett’s will, also told the court, “Inquiries made within the Parsi community have shown that Mogal was involved in other criminal cases as well.” They told the court that his own family members had given written statements “describing him as a mischievous person who has habitually attempted to extort money by blackmailing individuals for personal gain.”
However, Mogal’s lawyer, Shahed Ali Ansari, brushed the allegations aside. An affidavit he filed on his client’s behalf on July 15, 2024, stated that Mogal is an educated person from a respected family and although some cases had been filed against him owing to family disputes, the court had neither taken cognizance of those cases, nor was he charge-sheeted or convicted in any of them. “...Previous good character is material, but, however, previous bad character has no evidentiary value as per evidence law,” Mogal’s affidavit stated. The previous cases, Ansari told HT, “Arose from matrimonial disputes. They have nothing to do with this matter.” He further said that Mogal will be challenging the single bench’s order in the case pertaining to Dadysett’s will before a division bench. “Whether the will is valid or not cannot be decided at this stage. It has to be considered during the trial,” he said.
An illustrious family
The Dadysett family were among the early Parsi settlers in Bombay and earned tremendous goodwill over the years for their community work through the Dadysett Charity Trust. The family’s origins can be traced back to Dady Nosherwanji Dadysett (1734-1799), who commissioned the Dadysett Atash Behram at Fanaswadi, Kalbadevi. According to a book by Marzban J Giara, it was the first fire temple of the Kadmi sect of Parsis to be consecrated in Mumbai in 1783. In Giara’s book, ‘A Brief History of the Dadysett Atash Behram’, he wrote that Dadysett owned six ships and was an agent for commercial ships that arrived from the UK to Mumbai. “Beside shipping, he earned handsomely in ginning press and manufacture of screws. He also donated handsomely to charity.” Over 200 years ago, Dadysett donated as much as ₹10 lakh of his wealth, a princely sum for its time. Even today, the Dadysett Charity Trust (DCT) manages the Atash Behram at Kalbadevi, the Dadysett Agiary at Fort, and carries out charity work providing the community medical assistance, educational assistance, and poverty alleviation, said the permanent trustee Behram Ardeshir.
Hilla, who died aged 100, was the last surviving member of the Dadysett clan. According to Ardeshir, she was married to Homi Dadysett, one of four brothers, who were the great-grandsons of Jamshedji Dadysett, one of the founders of the DCT. “Before her death, she gave a sum of money to the trust and asked them to hold prayers for the Dadysett family forever,” said Ardeshir.
She also named businessman Hoshang Jehangir Khan and his wife Rashna Khan, a solicitor, as the executors of her will, dated December 18, 2015. Hoshang Khan told the Bombay High Court that he had known Hilla Dadysett for 50 years as his father and Dadysett’s husband were cousins. Dadysett had added them as joint account holders in all her bank accounts, and Hoshang was nominated in all her assets and investments.
The Khans’ lawyers cited 21 reasons to show that the will that Mogal had relied on was forged and fabricated. They argued that for over eight years from her first will in 2015 and her last codicil in 2023, it was Dadysett’s intention to sell her share of the bungalow and donate the proceeds to charity. According to them, there was no conceivable reason for a change of mind in the twenty-four days between her last codicil and the will produced by Mogal. They said that apart from the will produced by Mogal, there was no evidence of any acquaintance between Dadysett and him, and neither was he mentioned in any of her testamentary documents.
Hoshang (63) and Rashna Khan (60), residents of Churchgate, the executors of Dadysett’s last will of December 18, 2015, had filed an interim application urging the court to direct a magisterial inquiry under section 340 of the Criminal Procedure Code against Mogal. There were four codicils to Dadysett’s will of December 18, 2015. The last one was dated February 27, 2023. Mogal, however, filed a caveat in the court based on a purported will of March 23, 2023, that, he insisted, was valid and legal. Mogal contended that this was Dadysett’s last will and under the Indian Succession Act, only the last will would be considered valid.
The Khans contended that Dadysett’s nephew, her brother’s son and her sole surviving legal heir Yerzdi Doctor, was named in her will of December 2015 and he received a monetary gift from her by a codicil of September 18, 2019. “The deceased, having given her own nephew only a sum of money, would have had no reason to bequeath her major asset -- her share in a prime property at Kemp’s Corner, Mumbai -- to a complete stranger,” the court was told. Justice Khata’s order of August 14, noted that Dadysett’s nephew too had consented to the grant of probate in favor of the Khans by an affidavit of July 26, 2023.
The Khans said that Mogal had “surfaced” on March 15, 2024, when their petition for grant of probate orders was listed in the High Court, claiming that he had filed a caveat a day earlier. This, they claimed, showed that the will did not exist while Dadysett was alive and was fabricated after her death. They also pointed out mismatched signatures, grammatical, and typographical errors which were “wholly inconsistent with the deceased’s education, literacy, and attention to detail.”
In his order, Justice Khata directed the Prothonotary’s office to file an appropriate complaint before a judicial magistrate against Mogal: “In my view, the purported Will relied upon by the Caveator (Mogal) would certainly impact the administration of justice, cause a substantial injury to the Applicants (Khans), and deprive the Charity of a very valuable property.” He asked the Prothonotary’s office to report the status of the complaint before the magistrate to the court every three months and posted the matter for hearing on November 14.
A concerned community
While the case has become a talking point within the city’s Parsi community, not many are shocked. Several people that HT spoke to admitted that in the past too there have been many instances of third parties trying to usurp the properties of deceased childless Parsis. Bombay Parsi Panchayet (BPP) trustee Viraf Mehta said, “It’s hard to put a number on how many such cases there are, but it’s definitely something that everybody is wary of and we are taking appropriate steps to ensure we safeguard the properties as much as we can.”
Hilla Dadysett, the last member of one of the city’s most prominent Parsi families, died on May 22, 2023, leaving behind a will that bequeathed her home, Monte Rosa, a 3599.54 square metre bungalow at Kemps’ Corner valued at approximately ₹250 crore, to charity. While the testamentary petition seeking a probate of her will by its executors, Hoshang and Rashna Khan, was pending in the Bombay High Court, 51-year-old resident of Ganesh Galli, Parel, Khushroo Behramshaw Mogal, filed a caveat saying he had been “like a son” to Dadysett, and sought her share in the bungalow. To back his claim, Mogal produced a will dated March 22, 2023, claiming it was Dadysett’s latest will and should hence prevail over her previous will and its four codicils.
The court, however, felt that even a plain reading of the will produced by Mogal “raises serious suspicion”. “Prima Facie, this case appears to be a posthumous pursuit of riches unearned and a concerted attempt by an unrelated party to usurp the estate,” said the order by Justice Kamal Khata of the Bombay High Court dated August 14. Justice Khata also ordered the Prothonotary and Senior Master of the court to file a complaint against the caveator Khushroo Behramshaw Mogal before a magistrate for criminal offenses under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and sections of the Indian Penal Code for falsifying evidence and committing forgery.
In his order, the judge further said, “The phrases ‘just like my son’ and ‘my nearest person’ (in the will produced by Mogal) appear to have been craftily employed to mislead the reader into believing that the deceased (Dadysett) shared a close relationship with the caveator (Mogal).”
The lawyers representing Hoshang and Rashna Khan, executors of Dadysett’s will, also told the court, “Inquiries made within the Parsi community have shown that Mogal was involved in other criminal cases as well.” They told the court that his own family members had given written statements “describing him as a mischievous person who has habitually attempted to extort money by blackmailing individuals for personal gain.”
However, Mogal’s lawyer, Shahed Ali Ansari, brushed the allegations aside. An affidavit he filed on his client’s behalf on July 15, 2024, stated that Mogal is an educated person from a respected family and although some cases had been filed against him owing to family disputes, the court had neither taken cognizance of those cases, nor was he charge-sheeted or convicted in any of them. “...Previous good character is material, but, however, previous bad character has no evidentiary value as per evidence law,” Mogal’s affidavit stated. The previous cases, Ansari told HT, “Arose from matrimonial disputes. They have nothing to do with this matter.” He further said that Mogal will be challenging the single bench’s order in the case pertaining to Dadysett’s will before a division bench. “Whether the will is valid or not cannot be decided at this stage. It has to be considered during the trial,” he said.
An illustrious family
The Dadysett family were among the early Parsi settlers in Bombay and earned tremendous goodwill over the years for their community work through the Dadysett Charity Trust. The family’s origins can be traced back to Dady Nosherwanji Dadysett (1734-1799), who commissioned the Dadysett Atash Behram at Fanaswadi, Kalbadevi. According to a book by Marzban J Giara, it was the first fire temple of the Kadmi sect of Parsis to be consecrated in Mumbai in 1783. In Giara’s book, ‘A Brief History of the Dadysett Atash Behram’, he wrote that Dadysett owned six ships and was an agent for commercial ships that arrived from the UK to Mumbai. “Beside shipping, he earned handsomely in ginning press and manufacture of screws. He also donated handsomely to charity.” Over 200 years ago, Dadysett donated as much as ₹10 lakh of his wealth, a princely sum for its time. Even today, the Dadysett Charity Trust (DCT) manages the Atash Behram at Kalbadevi, the Dadysett Agiary at Fort, and carries out charity work providing the community medical assistance, educational assistance, and poverty alleviation, said the permanent trustee Behram Ardeshir.
Hilla, who died aged 100, was the last surviving member of the Dadysett clan. According to Ardeshir, she was married to Homi Dadysett, one of four brothers, who were the great-grandsons of Jamshedji Dadysett, one of the founders of the DCT. “Before her death, she gave a sum of money to the trust and asked them to hold prayers for the Dadysett family forever,” said Ardeshir.
She also named businessman Hoshang Jehangir Khan and his wife Rashna Khan, a solicitor, as the executors of her will, dated December 18, 2015. Hoshang Khan told the Bombay High Court that he had known Hilla Dadysett for 50 years as his father and Dadysett’s husband were cousins. Dadysett had added them as joint account holders in all her bank accounts, and Hoshang was nominated in all her assets and investments.
The Khans’ lawyers cited 21 reasons to show that the will that Mogal had relied on was forged and fabricated. They argued that for over eight years from her first will in 2015 and her last codicil in 2023, it was Dadysett’s intention to sell her share of the bungalow and donate the proceeds to charity. According to them, there was no conceivable reason for a change of mind in the twenty-four days between her last codicil and the will produced by Mogal. They said that apart from the will produced by Mogal, there was no evidence of any acquaintance between Dadysett and him, and neither was he mentioned in any of her testamentary documents.
Hoshang (63) and Rashna Khan (60), residents of Churchgate, the executors of Dadysett’s last will of December 18, 2015, had filed an interim application urging the court to direct a magisterial inquiry under section 340 of the Criminal Procedure Code against Mogal. There were four codicils to Dadysett’s will of December 18, 2015. The last one was dated February 27, 2023. Mogal, however, filed a caveat in the court based on a purported will of March 23, 2023, that, he insisted, was valid and legal. Mogal contended that this was Dadysett’s last will and under the Indian Succession Act, only the last will would be considered valid.
The Khans contended that Dadysett’s nephew, her brother’s son and her sole surviving legal heir Yerzdi Doctor, was named in her will of December 2015 and he received a monetary gift from her by a codicil of September 18, 2019. “The deceased, having given her own nephew only a sum of money, would have had no reason to bequeath her major asset -- her share in a prime property at Kemp’s Corner, Mumbai -- to a complete stranger,” the court was told. Justice Khata’s order of August 14, noted that Dadysett’s nephew too had consented to the grant of probate in favor of the Khans by an affidavit of July 26, 2023.
The Khans said that Mogal had “surfaced” on March 15, 2024, when their petition for grant of probate orders was listed in the High Court, claiming that he had filed a caveat a day earlier. This, they claimed, showed that the will did not exist while Dadysett was alive and was fabricated after her death. They also pointed out mismatched signatures, grammatical, and typographical errors which were “wholly inconsistent with the deceased’s education, literacy, and attention to detail.”
In his order, Justice Khata directed the Prothonotary’s office to file an appropriate complaint before a judicial magistrate against Mogal: “In my view, the purported Will relied upon by the Caveator (Mogal) would certainly impact the administration of justice, cause a substantial injury to the Applicants (Khans), and deprive the Charity of a very valuable property.” He asked the Prothonotary’s office to report the status of the complaint before the magistrate to the court every three months and posted the matter for hearing on November 14.
A concerned community
While the case has become a talking point within the city’s Parsi community, not many are shocked. Several people that HT spoke to admitted that in the past too there have been many instances of third parties trying to usurp the properties of deceased childless Parsis. Bombay Parsi Panchayet (BPP) trustee Viraf Mehta said, “It’s hard to put a number on how many such cases there are, but it’s definitely something that everybody is wary of and we are taking appropriate steps to ensure we safeguard the properties as much as we can.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main issue in the case involving Hilla Dadysett's estate?
The main issue is a dispute over the will of Hilla Dadysett, a Parsi heiress who left her valuable property at Kemp’s Corner to charity. A middle-aged Parsi man, Khushroo Behramshaw Mogal, has claimed to be 'like a son' to Dadysett and is seeking a share in the property.
Who are the executors of Hilla Dadysett's will?
The executors of Hilla Dadysett's will are Hoshang Jehangir Khan and his wife Rashna Khan, a solicitor.
What did the Bombay High Court decide regarding Khushroo Behramshaw Mogal's claim?
The Bombay High Court ordered the Prothonotary’s office to file a complaint against Khushroo Behramshaw Mogal before a judicial magistrate, suspecting that his claim and the will he produced were fabricated.
What is the value of the property at Kemp’s Corner mentioned in the will?
The property at Kemp’s Corner, known as Monte Rosa, is valued at approximately ₹250 crore.
What is the role of the Dadysett Charity Trust in this case?
The Dadysett Charity Trust is a prominent charitable organization managed by the Dadysett family. Hilla Dadysett, the last surviving member of the family, left her share of the property to the trust in her will.
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