Sunjay Kapur's mother Rani moves SC to restrict his wife Priya from interfering with ‘RK Family Trust’

Rani Kapur, the 80-year-old mother of late businessman Sunjay Kapur, on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court with a fresh plea seeking to restrict Sunjay's third wife Priya Sachdev Kapur from interfering with the functioning of the ‘RK Family Trust’ till the pendency of the mediation proceedings started on 7 May.

She also sought a stay on the Board Meeting of the company scheduled for 18 May in response to a notice issued by Raghuvanshi Investment Private Limited, which holds a major part of the disputed family estate.

The plea was mentioned by the counsel appearing for Rani Kapur before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, news agency ANI reported. The counsel contended that the meeting is intended to appoint additional directors to the Board.

A bench led by Justice JB Pardiwala has listed the case for 14 May, Thursday.

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 also 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, it had suggested on 27 April that the parties should consider going for mediation.

"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.

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.

Rani Kapur's 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.

Sunjay Kapur passed away on June 12 after collapsing during a polo match in England. He reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest.

A plea by actor 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".

— With inputs from PTI