HC restrains Sunjay Kapur’s widow, sister from commenting against each other

THe new delhi heights margaret court on tues reticent the late businessman Sunjay Kapur’s widow, Priya Kapur, and sister, Mandhira Kapur Smith, from making statements against each other.“Parties are directed to exercise restraint in making any public statements against each other directly or indirectly,” Justice Mini Pushkarna said in the order in Priya Kapur’s defamation suit against Smith.The suit was filed after Smith insinuated in a podcast last year that Priya and Sunjay Kapur’s marriage was troubled and lacked legitimacy. Priya Kapur has also filed a criminal defamation suit over the same podcast in a Delhi court.Priya Kapur’s counsel, Maninder Singh, submitted in the high court that Smith repeatedly uploaded and circulated the podcast videos and posts on YouTube and social media platforms, identifying his client by name and making “false allegations intended to incite hatred, ridicule, and social ostracism, thereby destroying the complainant’s reputation.”Smith’s lawyer, Amit Sibal, said a “concerted media vilification campaign” was going on against his client. He pointed out that the suit was filed two days after the court suggested that the parties resolve their dispute following Sunjay Kapur’s death.On February 10, the court heard the suit seeking the Rani Kapur Family Trust’s cancellation and asked the family to resolve their differences through mediation in a “peaceful manner,” describing the present situation as “sorry.” Justice Pushkarna observed that all parties were grieving in different ways, had suffered losses, and should move forward while preserving family relationships.The high court also issued the summons in Priya Kapur’s suit seeking ₹20 crore as damages, and fixed May 14 as the next date of hearing.In her suit, she claimed that Smith’s conduct was not isolated or accidental but was part of a long-standing pattern of hostility, coercion, and harassment. She added that this earlier manifested in vexatious litigation, regulatory complaints, and extortionate monetary demands made upon her late husband, and which have now been redirected against her after his demise.“The statements complained of are per se defamatory, reckless and malicious, are unsupported by any factual foundation, and are not protected as fair comment or opinion. The continued availability and circulation of the impugned content has resulted in ongoing harm, social humiliation, and emotional trauma to the Plaintiff and children,” the suit said.Sunjay Kapur died of cardiac arrest while playing polo in London in June 2025. He was first married to designer Nandita Mahtani, and later to actor Karisma Kapoor, with whom he has two children, Samaira and Kiaan. Sunjay Kapur married Priya Kapur in 2017 and had a son, Azarius.The family has been involved in multiple legal disputes. Last year, the court reserved its verdict on Samaira and Kiaan’s plea seeking a status quo with respect to their father’s properties.Sanjay Kapur’s mother, Rani, filed a suit seeking cancellation of the Rani Kapur Family Trust, alleging that her late son and Priya Kapur fraudulently created it to unlawfully deprive her of assets bequeathed to her by her husband, SK Kapur, the founder of Sona Comstar.Priya Kapur moved an application in Rani’s suit seeking initiation of perjury proceedings against her mother-in-law, accusing her of making false statements regarding the trust.