The Supreme Court on Thursday recorded that mediation in the high-stakes inheritance dispute within the family of late businessman Sunjay Kapur was progressing satisfactorily and that the warring factions had agreed to explore the possibility of “crystallising a holistic settlement of their claims”, even as it reminded them to participate in the process with an “open mind and open heart”.
A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran took on record a preliminary mediation report submitted by former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, who was appointed by the court in May to facilitate an amicable resolution of the dispute involving the Kapur family trust and its assets.
“We are happy to note that the mediation is proceeding quite satisfactorily. We are also happy to note that the parties concerned are cooperating,” said the bench after noting that six mediation sessions had already been conducted and that the mediator had interacted with all members of the family.
According to the mediation report, the parties have held detailed discussions regarding their respective claims and entitlements arising out of the trust structure and the assets forming part of its corpus. The report further recorded that the parties agreed to continue discussions under the mediator’s supervision to explore the possibility of “crystallising a holistic settlement of their claims”.
The court also noted that the mediator had enlisted the assistance of a senior chartered accountant and a tax expert during the mediation process. Accepting Chandrachud’s request for additional time, the bench permitted mediation to continue till November 2.
{{/usCountry}}The court also noted that the mediator had enlisted the assistance of a senior chartered accountant and a tax expert during the mediation process. Accepting Chandrachud’s request for additional time, the bench permitted mediation to continue till November 2.
{{/usCountry}}“We are sure and very much hopeful that the manner in which the parties have cooperated so far in the mediation proceedings, all disputes may get resolved amicably,” said the bench, reiterating its earlier advice that the parties should approach mediation with an “open mind and open heart” instead of allowing the dispute to descend into years of litigation.
“Let the mediation proceed further. We shall wait for one more report of the learned mediator,” it added.
While senior advocates Siddharth Dave and Vaibhav Gaggar appered for Rani Kapur, Priya Kapur and others were represented through senior counsel Sheryl Trehan and Abhimanyu Bhandari.
The dispute originates from a suit instituted by 80-year-old Rani Kapur, mother of the late industrialist, who has alleged that after suffering a stroke in 2017, her son Sunjay Kapur and his wife Priya Kapur exploited her medical condition to transfer her assets into the family trust without her informed consent. She has claimed that she was made to sign several documents, including blank papers, under the guise of administrative formalities.
The family dispute escalated following Sunjay Kapur’s death in June 2025. Rani Kapur alleged that Priya Kapur moved swiftly thereafter to assume control of key Sona Group entities, leaving her with no meaningful share in the family assets. Separately, Sunjay Kapur’s two children from his previous marriage with actor Karisma Kapoor approached the Delhi high court alleging that Priya Kapur had forged his will and sought to take complete control over the estate. The high court, on April 30, granted interim protection by restraining the creation of third-party rights over the assets.
The Supreme Court had referred the dispute to mediation in May after all sides agreed to attempt an out-of-court resolution. During the hearing on May 14, the bench had repeatedly appealed to the family to resolve their differences amicably, observing that prolonged litigation would only deepen the acrimony.
“We have been saying repeatedly that ‘settle it’. There is this 80-year-old woman. Sometime you have to compromise...We all come empty-handed and will go empty-handed. We only carry our soul in the end,” the court had remarked, urging the parties to approach the mediator “not with a heavy heart”.
The court had also restrained Raghuvanshi Investment Private Limited (RIPL), a company linked to the family holdings, from proceeding with the appointment of independent directors and certain other agenda items, observing that no party should take any step capable of aggravating tensions while mediation was underway. It had further directed that RBI and other statutory compliances would not be insisted upon during the mediation period to ensure that the settlement process was not disrupted.