Delhi High Court to hear Mohit Saraf v. Rajiv Luthra on Friday after Mediation talks fail

After mediation talks failed to make any headway, the Delhi High Court has decided to hear the plea filed by L&L's Senior Partner Mohit Saraf against Founding Partner Rajiv Luthra on November 6, Friday. .The two senior-most partners at L&L Partners have been embroiled in a tiff over the dilution of the firm's equity for over a month now. The main contention in Saraf's plea before the Delhi High Court is that he cannot be summarily thrown out of the firm using strong-arm tactics..The Court had earlier asked the parties to try mediation to resolve their differences and appointed Senior Advocate Sriram Panchu as the mediator. Senior Advocate Panchu's mediation report was submitted to the Court today, and Justice V Kameswar Rao was informed that mediation had failed. .In view of the same, a mention of the matter was made this afternoon, with Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Luthra, suggesting that the matter may be heard tomorrow after Luthra's reply is filed. .Appearing for Saraf, Senior Advocate Parag Tripathi suggested that the Court may hear the matter on the question of an interim arrangement so that mediation may be given one more chance. He submitted,"I cannot go for another round of mediation without protection. That no reasonable person can accept. ... Court may hear it as a way to mediation, to give mediation one last opportunity.". Singhvi, however, responded,"I have something to say in half a minute. I have instructions... We are quite happy to go on final hearing. It prevents duplicated hearings. The correct course is to hear it finally.".Ultimately, it was mooted that the Court may begin hearing Saraf's arguments on Friday, with Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul (also appearing for Luthra) agreeing to respond on Monday. .Justice Rao directed Luthra to reply to the petition in the course of today. Saraf was asked to make his rejoinder in two days i.e. by Thursday, 5 pm..Appearing for the third Respondent in the matter, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan argued against Saraf relying on certain submissions made in additional documents filed before the Court, wherein allegations have been made against six other respondents apart from Rajiv Luthra. .On instructions, Senior Advocate Tripathi told the Court that Saraf would not be pursuing any relief against Respondents 2-7 in the case (Respondent 1 being Rajiv Luthra), at this stage and without prejudice to his case. Tripathi added, therefore, that Respondents 2-7 may be deleted from the array of parties. .The Court recorded this statement and directed that an amended memo of parties be filed today. The Court also allowed Senior Advocate Tripathi’s request that the petitioner be allowed to file a compilation of judgments..Further, the Court has agreed to a request made by Advocate Haripriya Padmanabhan (for Luthra) to ensure that the mediation report is not recorded in the Court's order..Senior Advocate Amarjit Singh Chandiok (for Luthra) also made brief submissions today..The matter will now be heard next on November 6, Friday.