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Delhi Police confirmed on July 9 that Samir Modi, managing director of Godfrey Phillips India, was attacked by the personal security officer (PSO) of Bina Modi, the company’s chairman and managing director.
Delhi Police has asked Apollo Hospital, in the alleged assault case on Samir Modi, managing director of Godfrey Phillips India, why there were two different discharge reports with two different surgery dates.
According to FIR, viewed by BusinessStandard, The two different discharge reports allegedly stated the years of operation as 2019 and 2024.
“There are some other differences in the two discharge reports. What is the reason for these differences and why? The answer will be provided as soon as possible so that further investigation can be carried out in the case/FIR,” asked Inspector of Sarita Vihar police station.
Delhi Police confirmed on July 9 that Samir Modi, managing director of Godfrey Phillips India, was attacked by the personal security officer (PSO) of Bina Modi, the company’s chairman and managing director.
However, police could not find enough evidence to charge Bina Modi or Lalit Bhasin, independent director at Godfrey Phillips India, with criminal intimidation or conspiracy.
The younger son of KK Modi and Bina Modi had filed a complaint with Delhi Police on June 27, 2024, accusing his mother, her personal security officer (PSO) and the directors of Godfrey Phillips of causing him “grave harm”. He had accused his mother of staging an attack on him to gain an advantage in the ongoing inheritance dispute. He said his mother had conspired to remove him from the company’s board.
Bina Modi is also a director of Godfrey Phillips.
Samir Modi had approached the Saket District Court and demanded that the investigation be monitored, the surveillance footage and call recordings of the accused be secured and their mobile phones be confiscated.
Subsequently, Bina Modi’s PSO had written to the Delhi Police and filed a petition in the Saket court seeking an investigation into the allegations and a fresh assessment of Samir Modi’s injury by a government hospital.
Bina Modi’s PSO advisor Manu Sharma said Business standard“Normally, one discharge report is prepared. How can there be two different discharge reports? The CCTV footage refutes the assault theory. Delhi Police should investigate the role of Apollo Hospital and get Samir Modi’s alleged surgery investigated by a government hospital,” he said.
Bina Modi had withdrawn her contempt suit against her sons Lalit and Samir Modi before the Supreme Court on July 23.
Her lawyer had informed the court that she would not press contempt charges over her son Samir’s allegations that she assaulted him during a board meeting.
The incident came against the backdrop of a bitter succession dispute over an inheritance worth an estimated Rs 11,000 crore following the death of family patriarch KK Modi in 2019. Samir Modi, one of KK Modi’s three children and brother of former Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi, has challenged his mother’s handling of family affairs in the Supreme Court.
The inheritance includes a nearly 50 percent stake in Godfrey Phillips worth over Rs 5,500 crore, as well as stakes in other Modi group companies in sectors such as cosmetics, retail and direct selling. Samir Modi has accused his mother of failing to distribute the funds as specified in a trust deed signed by his father and of taking control of the company in violation of the terms of the deed. According to the deed, Samir Modi, Lalit Modi and Charu Modi are equal beneficiaries and successors to the companies and assets.
In a related development, earlier this year a court had prevented Godfrey Phillips and Bina Modi, chairman and managing director of the KK Modi Group, from ousting Samir Modi from the board amid a dispute between the two.
The court also prohibited Bina and Godfrey from closing the 24seven retail chain. The court stated that the dismissal from the board and the closure of the retail chain would prima facie cause “irreparable harm”.
First published: August 27, 2024 | 9:21 p.m. IS
