New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday appointed former Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud as a mediator to settle a bitter inheritance dispute between Rani Kapur and Priya Kapur, the mother and widow of late industrialist Sunjay Kapur, over the family trust.
A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan referred the matter to mediation after the contesting factions agreed to explore an amicable resolution, Bar and Bench reported.
The top court said the dispute was a family matter, and advised members of the Kapur family against making public statements or posting on social media about the dispute for the “entertainment” of others.
The court also said that all parties, including Sunjay’s children from his earlier marriage with actor Karisma Kapoor, should participate in the mediation proceedings with an open mind.
“It’s a family dispute; let it be confined among the family only. It should not be a source of entertainment. This being a family affair, the endeavour on their part should be to get the disputes resolved at the earliest,” the bench said.
The bench said it would await a preliminary report post Chandrachud’s mediation before proceeding further.
The matter has been posted for August.
The mediator’s fees and other modalities would be fixed in consultation with the parties, and directed them to get in touch with the mediator.
The dispute centres around inheritance claims within the family. Rani Kapur has challenged the creation and functioning of a family trust, alleging that she has been stripped of her entire legacy, including her residence and other movable and immovable assets.
The Supreme Court said that the case, involving substantial assets and multiple stakeholders, could become a prolonged legal tussle. “It would be long-drawn litigation. The plaintiff is 80 years of age. It will be in the interest of parties if they go for mediation and decide the issue peacefully,” the bench had suggested.
Rani alleged that the family trust was created fraudulently and used to transfer control of key Sona Group assets without her consent. She claimed that after she suffered a brain stroke in 2017, she was made to sign documents, including blank papers, under the pretext of administrative formalities.
In another serious allegation, she said that her late son Sunjay and his wife Priya took advantage of her medical condition to shift ownership of assets into the trust.
The dispute intensified following Sunjay’s death in England last June, after collapsing during a polo match.
Rani alleged that Priya subsequently took control of key group entities, leaving her without any share in the estate. There have been claims from other family members too, including Sunjay’s children from his previous marriage with Karisma Kapoor.