NEW DELHI, May 7: 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 the public and may not go on social media about the dispute.
“It is a family dispute. Let it be confined among 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, on April 27, it had suggested 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.
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 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. (PTI)
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