SC Appoints D. Y. Chandrachud as Mediator in Kapur Family Trust Dispute

The Supreme Court of India on Thursday appointed former Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud as mediator in the long-running dispute over the Kapur family’s assets and trust between Rani Kapur and Priya Kapur.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan directed all parties to participate in the mediation process “with an open mind” and restrained them from making public statements or discussing the matter on social media.

“It is a family dispute. Let it be confined among the family only. It should not be a source of entertainment,” the bench observed.

The case pertains to control over the estate and assets linked to late industrialist Sunjay Kapur and a family trust constituted in October 2017 in the name of Rani Kapur. The 80-year-old has alleged that the trust was created using “forged, fabricated and fraudulent” documents and has sought to have it declared null and void.

Legal proceedings concerning the ownership and management of the family assets are already pending before the Delhi High Court, while the plea before the apex court seeks status quo on the alienation of trust properties .

The appointment of Chandrachud as mediator has drawn attention given his stature as a recently retired Chief Justice of India and his experience in handling sensitive constitutional and civil disputes. The court said it would await a preliminary report from the mediator before proceeding further with the matter in August.