Kamal Ghorui
After Sunjay Kapur’s demise, there’s a legal dispute regarding his inheritence between his widowed wife Priya Kapur and mother Rani Kapur. As per the latest update on Monday, the Supreme Court of India has made a clear preference for reconciliation in the ongoing dispute over the Sona Group family trust. The court said that a drawn-out courtroom battle, particularly involving an 80-year-old, would achieve little. The matter is titled Rani Kapur vs Priya Sachdev Kapur.A Bench led by Justices JB Pardiwala and Vijay Bishnoi expressed concern over the prolonged nature of the dispute and urged the parties to consider resolving it outside court. According to Bar and Bench, speaking to the lawyers, the Bench remarked, “Why are you all fighting? This is not the age for your client to fight…go for mediation once and for all, from A to Z. Otherwise, this is a waste.”Reiterating the point, the Court added, “You are 80. This is not the age for your client to fight,” underlining that extended litigation in such circumstances serves little practical purpose. At the heart of the dispute is a suit filed by Rani Kapur, who has challenged the validity of the Rani Kapur Family Trust. She has alleged that the trust was set up in a fraudulent manner to deprive her of her entire estate, including her control over Sona Group companies.Her plea states that after she suffered a stroke in 2017, her late son Sunjay Kapur and his wife Priya allegedly took advantage of her vulnerable condition. It is claimed that assets were transferred into the trust without her full understanding or consent, and that she was made to sign documents, some allegedly blank, under the pretext of routine formalities. The situation intensified following Sunjay Kapur’s death in June last year. Rani Kapur has claimed that Priya Kapur then moved swiftly to take control of key Sona Group entities, resulting in a significant share of the family wealth being consolidated with Priya and her children, leaving Rani Kapur with nothing.The matter is not confined to the Supreme Court alone. Related proceedings over the estate and its control are already pending before the Delhi High Court. In the apex court, the current plea seeks an order to maintain status quo on the transfer or alienation of all properties tied to the trust.Appearing for Rani Kapur, Senior Advocate Shyam Divan argued that in disputes involving “vast estates and huge contestations,” courts generally step in early with protective orders. Senior Advocate Madhavi Divan, representing the daughter, echoed the concern, stating that they had been “left without anything.”Senior Advocate Naveen Pahwa, appearing on behalf of some of the grandchildren, also supported the plea, submitting that they had effectively been excluded. Further elaborating on the need for a practical resolution, the Bench observed, “It will be in the interest of all the parties concerned if they go for a mediation and try to resolve the disputes peacefully and equitably…We shall, if necessary, hear the matter on merits; however, first, we should make an attempt to convince the parties to go for mediation.”The case is now expected to be listed again next week. Senior Advocate Vaibhav Gaggar also appeared for Rani Kapur.
