The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear the property settlement dispute related to the family of IPL Founder Lalit Modi on January 27, after Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal apprised the Court that Modi had passed derogatory comments against Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi on social media.
While handing over the transcripts of the statements to the Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice J.B. Pardiwala, Sibal said that Modi had levelled baseless allegations against Rohatgi on social media, despite giving an undertaking to the top court of the country that he would refrain from making such statements.
CJI Chandrachud told the Senior Advocate that the matter was posted for hearing on February 14.
The Senior Advocate requested the Apex Court for an earlier date in the case, so that an order could be passed to take down the statements. He contended that this behaviour by Modi could not be allowed, since it violated this court’s previous order.
After perusing the document, the Supreme Court agreed to list the matter for hearing on next Friday.
Sibal further said that Modi has made other statements too, which were objectionable.
The IPL founder, who is currently living in the United Kingdom, had recently made certain remarks on his Instagram page against Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi over the latter calling him a ‘fugitive’. He later posted another message on Instagram, apologising for his comments against Rohatgi.
Modi had moved the Apex Court by way of a special leave petition against the Delhi High Court judgment, which held that the anti-arbitration suit filed by his mother Bina Modi and siblings pending in the Supreme Court was maintainable.
Earlier, the top court of the country had directed the parties to resolve the matter through mediation.