New Delhi, May 1 -- The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed Priya Kapur, widow of businessman Sunjay Kapur, to preserve his assets and refrain from creating any third-party rights over them, the latest in a long-drawn fight over the industrialist's estate, with multiple family members contesting a will that allegedly leaves everything to his widow. Justice Jyoti Singh observed that the genuineness of the will was now a matter for trial and that, pending adjudication, the assets must not be dissipated. If they were depleted and Priya ultimately failed to prove the will's validity, Sunjay's children with actor Karisma Kapoor-Samaira and Kiaan-and his mother, Rani Kapur, would be deprived of their shares as Class I heirs, the court reasoned. "Genuineness of the will propounded by defendant number 1 (Priya) is now a matter of trial in light of the suspicious circumstances set forth. Trial will take time and in the meantime, the assets should not be dissipated. It is therefore imperative that the assets of the deceased are preserved, pending disposal of the suit," the court said. The interim order restrains Priya from alienating, transferring, or pledging equity shareholdings in three Indian companies; withdrawing funds from three accounts in two Indian banks (except to meet liabilities towards the children under the divorce decree); withdrawing provident fund amounts and disposing of personal artworks (both consented to by Priya); operating foreign bank accounts; and selling or transferring cryptocurrency assets. The court did not pass any order on immovable properties held by Sunjay abroad. The order will operate during the pendency of the suit filed by Samaira and Kiaan seeking a one-fifth share of their father's property. Sunjay, who was chairperson of Sona Comstar, died of cardiac arrest while playing polo in London on June 12 last year. He was first married to designer Nandita Mahtani, and later to Karisma Kapoor, with whom he had two children. The couple divorced in 2016. He married Priya, a model-actor and businesswoman, in 2017; they have a son, Azarius. The suit alleged that Priya produced the will for the first time at a family meeting on July 30, without prior disclosure of its existence, and that she had fabricated the document in conspiracy with attesting witnesses Nitin Sharma and Dinesh Agarwal under "suspicious circumstances". "All legitimate suspicious circumstances raised by the plaintiff have to be completely removed by defendant number 1 (Priya), before the document is accepted as the last will," the court observed. Priya asserted that leaving the entire estate to one's wife is a "healthy" tradition in the Kapur household, noting that Sunjay's father had bequeathed his entire estate to his wife, Rani Kapur. Azarius Kapur told the court that Karisma's children had moved seeking a share only after securing their interests under a family trust. A detailed copy of the verdict was awaited till the time of going to print. The ruling comes amid multiple legal disputes involving the family. Rani Kapur filed a separate suit in January seeking to declare a trust "null and void," alleging that Sunjay and Priya had fraudulently created it to divest her of assets inherited from her husband, Surinder Kapur....