The Supreme Court on Thursday appointed former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud as a mediator to resolve the ongoing family dispute between Rani Kapur, mother of late industrialist Sunjay Kapur, and his wife, Priya Sachdev Kapur, over his estate and control of the Sona Group family trust.
The Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan passed the order after all parties consented to court-monitored mediation. The Court also directed the parties to refrain from making public statements or social media posts concerning the intra-family dispute, observing that the controversy should remain confined within the family and not become a matter of public spectacle.
The Apex Court clarified that the mediation would be confined to disputes relating to the estate, the trust structure and control over family assets. It directed all parties to participate in the process in good faith with a view to securing an amicable resolution. The Court said it would await a preliminary report from the mediator before proceeding further and listed the matter for further hearing in August.
The litigation concerns the creation and administration of the Rani Kapur Family Trust, which has been challenged by Rani Kapur as fraudulent and legally untenable. She alleged that the trust mechanism was used to divest her of ownership and control over valuable family assets, including holdings linked to Sona Group companies.
As per Rani Kapur, she suffered a stroke in 2017, following which her late son Sunjay Kapur and Priya Kapur allegedly exploited her medical condition and fiduciary trust. She claimed that several documents, including blank papers, were obtained from her under the guise of administrative formalities and were subsequently used to transfer assets into the family trust structure without informed consent.
The dispute intensified after the death of Sunjay Kapur in June last year. Rani Kapur alleged that Priya Kapur thereafter assumed control over key corporate entities and family assets. She further claimed that substantial portions of the estate had been transferred to Priya Kapur and the children, leaving her without any meaningful share in the inheritance.
Parallel civil proceedings concerning succession rights, estate administration and control over the trust assets are also pending before the Delhi High Court. In a related matter, the Delhi High Court on April 30 granted interim injunctive relief in favour of the children of actor Karisma Kapoor and restrained Priya Sachdev Kapur from creating third-party interests in the assets left behind by Sunjay Kapur.
Before the Supreme Court, Rani Kapur sought a direction for maintenance of the status quo regarding alienation and transfer of properties held by the family trust. During earlier hearings, the Apex Court had repeatedly encouraged the parties to explore mediation, observing that prolonged inheritance litigation involving an elderly litigant would serve little practical purpose and only deepen familial discord.
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