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SC’s mediation bid hits hurdle after Rani Kapur files plea against Priya
SC's mediation in the Kapur family inheritance dispute faces challenges as Rani Kapur accuses Priya Kapur of a "forced takeover" during negotiations.
The Supreme Court’s attempt to broker peace in the bitter inheritance dispute within the family of late businessman Sunjay Kapur appeared to hit an early hurdle on Tuesday, barely days after former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud was appointed as mediator, with Kapur’s mother Rani Kapur accusing her daughter-in-law Priya Kapur of attempting a “forced takeover” of the disputed estate even during the pendency of the court-monitored mediation process.
Rani Kapur moved a fresh application before the apex court alleging that Priya Kapur and others were continuing efforts to assume control over key companies and assets linked to the family estate despite the mediation order passed on May 7.
The application was mentioned before a bench of justices JB Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan, which agreed to hear the plea on May 14 after brief submissions from lawyers representing the rival sides.
Senior advocates Navin Pahwa and Vaibhav Gaggar appeared on behalf of Rani Kapur. Senior advocate Gopal Jain represented Raghuvanshi Investment Private Limited (RIPL) and submitted that since the company is a non-banking financial company (NBFC), the proposed meeting and appointments were in compliance with RBI’s guidelines.
The court, however, retorted: “Looks like we have entered into an arena where Mahabharata will look very small... We will look into it (application).”
In her application filed through advocate Smriti Churiwal, Rani Kapur referred to a notice issued by RIPL convening a board of directors meeting on May 18, alleging that the move was aimed at bypassing the mediation process initiated by the top court.
“It is submitted that this notice has been issued at the behest of the Respondent No. 1 (Priya), along with her aides, being the Respondent Nos. 3 (director at RIPL) and 4 (RIPL’s company secretary), who have planned to bypass this Hon’ble Court’s process and make the upcoming court-monitored mediation infructuous with the sole motive and purpose of a forced takeover of the Company’s finances and management and the disputed family estate,” the plea stated.
The plea further alleged that the conduct of the respondents strengthened apprehensions that attempts may be made to alienate or transfer family assets during the mediation proceedings themselves.
“The aforesaid conduct…fortifies the applicant’s apprehension that there is every likelihood that the said respondents would make every attempt to transfer and alienate the family estate during the pendency of the mediation proceedings and would use the same only as a dilatory tactic with the sole motive of making applicant’s lis and cause as infructuous,” the application added.
The plea stated that Rani Kapur will “suffer grave and irreparable injury if the interim relief is not granted. If the respondents are allowed to appoint new directors, remove bank signatories, and grant unlimited financial powers behind her back, transfer and alienate assets, it would create an irreversible situation that no future court order or mediation could easily undo.”
The respondents in the proceedings include Priya Kapur, Sunjay Kapur’s sister Mandira Kapur Smith and other family members, including children from his earlier marriage with actor Karisma Kapoor.
Rani Kapur has sought directions restraining Priya Kapur and other respondents from interfering with the functioning of the RK Family Trust and five companies linked to the family estate, including RKPL, Aureus Investment Pvt Ltd, Sona BLW Precision Forgings, Pune Heat Treatment Pvt Ltd and BRS Finance and Investment Company, during the pendency of mediation proceedings.
The latest development comes less than a week after the apex court formally initiated mediation proceedings in the sensitive dispute and appointed Justice Chandrachud to facilitate settlement talks between the warring factions.
While appointing the former CJI as mediator on May 7, the bench had advised the parties not to make the family dispute “a source of entertainment for others” and urged them to participate in mediation with a “positive frame of mind”.
“This being a family affair, the endeavour on their part should be to resolve the dispute at the earliest and put an end to the entire matter…it will be in the interest of all if they are able to resolve the dispute before the learned mediator. Otherwise, it is going to be a long-drawn litigation,” the court had observed then.
The proceedings before the Supreme Court arise from a petition filed by octogenarian Rani Kapur seeking protection of the family estate and restraint against alleged interference with assets linked to the Sona Group after the death of her son Sunjay Kapur, former chairman of Sona Comstar.
Sunjay Kapur died of cardiac arrest while playing polo in London on June 12, 2025. The dispute thereafter escalated into competing claims over control of family assets, trusts and corporate entities linked to the Sona Group.
Rani Kapur has alleged that the Rani Kapur Family Trust was structured in a manner that divested her of control over substantial family assets without her informed consent. Her plea traces the origins of the dispute to 2017, after she allegedly suffered a stroke, following which certain documents and transactions were purportedly carried out under the guise of administrative formalities.
