Kapil Sibal comes to the defence of Mukul Rohatgi in Supreme Court against Lalit Modi comments

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal on Thursday raised strong objections before the Supreme Court to the remarks made by former Indian Premier League (IPL) Chairman Lalit Modi against Senior Advocate and former Attorney General for India Mukul Rohatgi.Appearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Sibal said,"This Court had ordered that no statements be made on social media. Scurrilous allegations are being made against my client on social media.".The CJI agreed to list the matter before an appropriate bench on January 28.Sibal was appearing for Lalit Modi's mother Bina Modi, whom Rohatgi is also representing before the top court..Modi, who is embroiled in a property dispute with Bina Modi and sister Charu, had taken to social media to launch a tirade against Rohatgi, who is representing his mother in the case. Modi had taken exception to the senior lawyer calling him a 'fugitive', writing in an Instagram post,"...As a young fly by night lawyer who buys judges I can buy and sell u million times. Fight for your client as hard as u want but refer to Me ONLY AS MR MODI. take this as a Very constructive advise. I have no problem u joking or saying or reporting. U should know your congress boss could not be bring with full might - u are like a ant to me...(sic)".The businessman, who is currently residing in London later apologised to Rohatgi on social media, writing,"On reviewing the post I wrote on my Instagram account, I realised I owed you an apology for somethings said in anger...However my complaint against you was that you - without any basis or justification - repeatedly called me a fugitive...The words of a former Attorney General of India should be carefully chosen - you know that every well given your experience...I said things I should not have - specially the bit about buying and selling judges etc. These are matters of gossip and should not have been alleged...".The arbitration arose out of a Family Trust Deed executed in London by KK Modi as settlor/managing Trustee and Bina, Lalit, Charu and Samir as Trustees. The Trust Deed was made in pursuance to an oral family settlement recorded in February, 2006. After the demise of KK Modi in November 2019, disputes emerged amongst the surviving parties. While Lalit contended that all the assets were to be sold, Bina Modi and others contended that on a true construction of the Trust Deed, no such sale had been triggered.Subsequently, on February 18, 2020, Lalit Modi filed an Application for Emergency Measures before the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) of the International Chambers of Commerce (ICC) to restrain Bina from, interalia, holding herself out as Managing Trustee of the Trust.Bina, Charu and Samir subsequently moved the Delhi High Court for redressal of their grievance. In March 2020, the High Court had dismissed these pleas.However, on appeal, a Division Bench of the High Court held that the suit against the initiation of arbitration proceedings in Singapore was maintainable. Modi then moved the Supreme Court against this order..The parties agreed to arbitration before the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre at Hyderabad in December 2021. Retired Supreme Court judges Justices Vikramajit Sen and Kurian Joseph were appointed as mediators in the dispute.