Lalit Modi, the man behind the Indian Premier League, was urged by the division bench of the Supreme Court, which is comprised of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and M.M. Sundresh, to delete social media posts he had made against members of his family as well as against senior advocate and former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who is defending his mother Bina Modi, on January 27. Justice Khanna verbally directed Senior Advocate Harish Salve, who represents Modi, to utilise his "good office" and encourage his client to take "remedial steps" while a bench declined to issue a written direction.“It always hurts both sides in a lawsuit when you start to argue like this in front of others. It only results in similar forms of retaliation. Parties have the maturity to know when to resist such outbursts. Take it all away, the judge commanded. "Your legal dispute is absolutely unrelated," he continued. However, avoid involving the attorneys in your dispute. 

Salve informed the bench that the anti-Rohatgi post had been removed.

The top court, which is now considering Modi's appeal over the maintainability of an anti-arbitration lawsuit filed by his mother and brothers, was informed last week that the embattled billionaire had publicly criticised Rohatgi. His outburst on social media is thought to have been brought on by Rohatgi referring to him as a "fugitive". Later, in a subsequent Instagram post, the former IPL commissioner expressed regret for his social media outburst.

Senior Attorney Kapil Sibal had urgently asked the bench presided over by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud gave suitable instructions directing Modi to remove the offensive comments since he strongly disagreed with the accusations made by Modi. "An agreement was established in front of the court that no comments would be made on social media while the mediation was taking place. However, malicious remarks have been made about my colleague Mukul Rohatgi. This can't be permitted. This is against the court's order," Sibal had said. On Friday, Sibal expressed his worries about the recent public criticism of Rohatgi and sought the court to order the removal of the contentious posts.

Salve adamantly argued, however, that no legal obligation was broken and that the remarks were personal and unrelated to the mediation. All of the family members are in such a situation because of Modi's mother. These are only irrational bouts of anger. "These are not personal comments," Sibal argued. Can they be appreciated by anyone? 

The original appeal stems from an anti-arbitration lawsuit filed by Modi's mother Bina Modi, his sister Charu, and his brother Samir, which prohibits Modi from starting arbitration proceedings in Singapore with regard to a contentious property dispute that is centered on a trust deed created by Modi's father, a well-known businessman. The parties had previously been directed to mediation by the Supreme Court. The bench decided January 27 to hear the merits of the matter.

Case Title: Lalit Kumar Modi v. Dr. Bina Modi & Ors. 
Citation: Special Leave Petition (C) No. 1134-1135 of 2021

Appearance of the Advocates:-

For Petitioner(s) 
Mr. Harish N.Salve, Sr.Adv.
Dr. A.M. Singhvi, Sr.Adv.
Ms. Anuradha Dutt, Adv.
Ms. Fereshte D. Sethna, Adv.
Ms. Ekta Kapil, Adv.
Ms. Suman Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Haaris Fazili, Adv.
Mr. Swadeep Hora, Adv.
Mr. Chaitanya Kaushik, Adv.
Ms. Priyanka MP, Adv.
Mr. Kunal Dutt, Adv.
Ms. B. Vijayalakshmi Menon, AOR

For Respondent(s) 
Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr.Adv.
For R.No.1 Mr. Gyanendra Kumar, Adv.
Ms. Amita Katragadda, Adv.
Ms. Shikha Tandon, Adv.
Mr. Robin Grover, Adv.
Mr. Kaustubh, Adv.
Mr. K.John, Adv.
Mr. Nreganpa Kukreja, Adv.
For M/S. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Aor, AOR
For R.No.2 Mr. Mukul Rohatgi, Sr.Adv.
Mr. Mahesh Agarwal, Adv.
Mr. Rishi Agrawala, Adv.
Mr. Karan Luthra, Adv.
Ms. Niyati Kohli, Adv.
Ms. Aarushi Tiku, Adv.

SLP(C)Nos.1134-1135/21
Mr. Pratham Agarwal, Adv.
Mr. E. C. Agrawala, AOR
For R.No.3. Mr. Shyam Divan, Sr.Adv.
Ms. Manali Singhal, Adv.
Mr. Santosh Krishnan, Adv.
Ms. Ranjeeta Rohatgi, AOR
Mr. Aanchal Kapoor, Adv.
Mr. Deepak Singh Rawat, Adv.
Ms. Sugandha Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Samten, Adv.