Delhi Court Registers Defamation Case by Godfrey Phillips Directors Against Samir Modi

A Delhi court in Saket today registered the criminal defamation lawsuit filed by four directors of Godfrey Phillips against Samir Modi and recorded the statement of Dr. Lalit Bhasin. 

In his statement, Bhasin mentioned that he had never encountered a situation where events had escalated to such a defamatory level, prompting him to file a criminal defamation complaint against Samir Kumar Modi. 

Bhasin also highlighted the June 1 interview in a Financial newspaper by Samir Modi, in which the latter accused his mother of staging an assault against him. 

Bina Modi chairs Modi Enterprises, which has companies such as Godfrey Philips. Her son, Samir Modi, serves on the boards of various companies within Modi Enterprises. Meanwhile, Lalit Bhasin is a board member of Godfrey Phillips and an associate of Bina Modi.

Just to give a little background, the inheritance dispute over the late KK Modi’s Rs 11,000 crore fortune escalated when Samir Modi accused his mother, Bina Modi, of organizing an attack on him to gain an advantage in their ongoing family feud last month. 

The dispute between Bina and Samir pertains to a trust deed put in place by KK Modi in 2014. The trust deed of KK Modi divided the empire between his wife, Bina, and three children, Lalit, Charu, and Samir. In November 2019, Lalit reportedly called on the family to dissolve the trust and distribute the proceeds amongst each other. 

However, the other three members disagreed with the proposal. Notably, Samir Modi changed his stance earlier this year and filed a suit against his mother in the Supreme Court, where other proceedings are ongoing between the family members. The apex court had called for mediation between the four, which has not worked out so far. 

Lalit and Samir had also reportedly questioned the voting rights of their mothers at Godfrey Phillips. Her appointment as Managing Director is set to be voted on in September this year.