Court papers published on 20 November 2018 placed Bidco Africa chairman Vimal Shah at the centre of a long-running divorce dispute involving Aarti Vipul and her husband, Vipul Haria. The filings, said to run to more than 250 pages, set out allegations of a relationship that began in the early 1980s and later became part of a bitter court fight.
The record says Shah and Aarti met while studying at United States International University in Kenya between 1982 and 1984. It further states that the two developed a relationship to the point of considering marriage, but Shah’s parents did not approve. The papers also say Shah later married Manda Shah in an arrangement made by their parents, while he and Aarti maintained contact from 1984 onward.
The source places the story against the backdrop of Shah’s rise in business. Together with his father, Bhimji Shah, and his brother Tarun, he helped build Bidco into a major edible oils producer with a strong share of the Kenyan market.
Aarti’s marriage to Vipul Haria, which took place on 29 July 1994, is described in the filings as troubled. A statement from her lawyer says Vipul “has constantly and frequently displayed a violent and uncaring attitude towards her and physically assaulted her several times”. Aarti also alleged that, during a trip to India, Vipul “abused and insulted her in the presence of their son, hotel staff and guests”.
The court record says Aarti left home on 12 May 2005 in a car with Shah and then filed for divorce. Vipul opposed the petition and denied ever “raised a finger” against his wife. The case continued for years, and on 27 May 2010 Vipul asked the court to join Shah and another man, Dipan Haria, as co-respondents.
Vipul accused Aarti of adultery “on occasions far too numerous to itemise” with Dipan, whom he described as a “healer” who visited her for back pain. The papers say the two were locked in Aarti’s bedroom in the matrimonial home and committed adultery. In a separate case, Aarti admitted under oath that she had a relationship with Dipan.
The filings also say Shah and Aarti travelled together overseas between 2007 and 2010, including to Dubai, the United Kingdom and India, with the trips reflected in their passports. Vipul further alleged that the pair used the house of Vishnu Patel in Parklands, Nairobi, for meetings and exchanged “various phone calls and love messages through their telephone numbers”. One number, 0733619444, was said to still be in use by Shah.
Another filing described a sealed envelope that was allegedly dropped at Shah’s residence and addressed to his wife, Mandra. The package reportedly contained a “booklet write up” about Aarti and copies of mobile telephone bills. Oraro and Company Advocates, Bidco’s corporate law firm, responded by accusing Vipul of obtaining “confidential mobile telephone bills” and saying, “An appropriate report has been made to the Kenya police for investigation and action.” Vipul’s lawyers denied that their client was behind the incident.
The dispute also spilled into the wider Indian community in Kenya. An anonymous letter sent to the chairman of the Visa Oshwal Community, and copied to Oshwal Centre committee members and teachers at Shri Chandana Vidyapeeth School, described Shah as “Aarti’s man of heaven” and called him “a hypocrite of first order ignorant of Jain values of women.”
The source also invokes the 1981 American romantic drama film Endless Love as a comparison to the alleged relationship. The court documents themselves did not resolve the personal claims, but they placed Shah’s private life under unusual scrutiny and tied him to a divorce case that had already dragged on for years.
