SC appoints DY Chandrachud as mediator in Kapur family trust dispute

The Supreme Court of India appointed former CJI D Y Chandrachud as mediator in the family trust dispute between Rani Kapur and Priya Kapur, urging private resolution and restraint from public comments

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday appointed former Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud to act as a mediator in the dispute between late industrialist Sunjay Kapur’s mother, Rani Kapur and his wife, Priya Kapur, over the family trust.

Asking the parties to participate in the mediation proceedings with an open mind, the apex court said they may not make any statements in public and also not go on social media about the dispute.

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“It is a family dispute. Let it be confined to the family only. It should not be a source of entertainment,” a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan said. The bench observed that, having regard to the nature of the dispute among the family members, it had suggested on April 27 that the parties should consider going for mediation.

“Today, all the counsel appearing for the respective parties have very graciously agreed to go for mediation. In such circumstances referred to above, we appoint D Y Chandrachud, former Chief Justice of India, to act as a mediator,” the bench said. “We shall await for a preliminary report from the mediator and thereafter proceed further with the matter,” the bench said and posted the matter for August.

It said the fees of the mediator and other modalities shall be fixed in consultation with the parties.
It directed the parties to get in touch with the mediator. The bench made it clear that the mediation would be confined only so far as the family members were concerned.

“This being a family affair, the endeavour on their part should be to get the dispute resolved at the earliest and put an end to the entire matter. We firmly believe that all parties should participate in the mediation proceedings with an open mind,” it said.

The bench said it will be in the interest of one and all if they are able to resolve the matter before the mediator, otherwise this is going to be a “long drawn litigation”. It said the mediation would be confined to the present matter.

On April 27, the top court sought a response from Priya Kapur and others on a lawsuit by Sanjay Kapur’s mother seeking directions to declare the family trust “null and void”. The bench had issued notice to Priya Kapur and others on the plea filed by the 80-year-old Rani Kapur alleging that the trust, which was constituted in her name in October 2017, was a product of “forged, fabricated and fraudulent” documents.

The legal proceedings over control of the estate and assets are pending before the Delhi High Court and the petition before the top court seeks a status quo on alienation of all the properties of the trust. During the hearing on April 27, the top court asked the parties in the dispute over the Sona Group Family Trust to explore mediation.

In the lawsuit, Rani Kapur has sought a direction to permanently restrain the defendants — her daughter-in-law Priya Kapur and others, including grandchildren — from utilising or acting in furtherance of the “RK Family Trust” in any manner whatsoever.

Her plea submitted that she was the sole beneficiary of the entire estate of her late husband, Surinder Kapur, who was the promoter of various businesses, including the ‘Sona Group of Companies’, and a “systematic fraud” was committed on her when the assets were transferred to the ‘RK Family Trust’. Till the time of his death, Sunjay never confirmed to Rani Kapur that she had actually been divested of all her rights, assets and legacy and never provided a copy of the purported RK Family Trust to her, the plea claimed.

“By means of a complex web of illegal transactions undertaken by the defendant Nos. 1 to 9 (Priya Kapur and others) in an unfortunate collusion with the plaintiff’s now deceased son, late Mr. Sunjay Kapur, all the plaintiff’s assets vest in one fraudulent trust titled — RK Family Trust, without her knowledge,” the lawsuit said. Sunjay Kapur passed away on June 12 after collapsing during a polo match in England. He reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest.

A plea by Karisma Kapoor’s two children challenging the authenticity of the purported will of their late father is also pending in the Delhi High Court, with the kids accusing his wife Priya Kapur of being “greedy”.