SC invokes spirituality to urge Kapur kin to settle row

NEW DELHI: Invoking spirituality in the multi-billion-dollar property dispute over late industrialist Sunjay Kapur’s estate, Supreme Court on Thursday reminded his mother and his wife of the transience of life and said it was always better to resolve issues amicably than fight endlessly.

The court-directed mediation process hit an obstacle before it started, with Kapur’s mother, Rani Kapur, alleging that two new independent directors were being appointed in the company to reduce her say and Priya Kapur contending that it was being done at RBI’s directive. A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan appealed to them to be accommodative and not go into mediation with prejudiced minds. SC also directed that no director be appointed in the meantime.

The bench asked Priya to treat her mother-in-law with a little care, pointing out that she was 80 years old and grief-stricken. It urged both parties not to do anything that would derail mediation proceedings. “Put an end to the dispute amicably, or it will be a very long-drawn battle,” the bench said.

Asking both parties to compromise a bit, SC said, “We all came into this world with empty hands, and we have to leave the world with empty hands. All we carry is our souls. We come with our soul and leave with the soul.”

As the parties had expressed their willingness to participate in mediation, SC had appointed former CJI D Y Chandrachud as mediator on May 7 and asked them to refrain from making public statements.