Jun 01, 2024 01:25 PM IST
Samir Modi accuses mother of planning attack to prevent him from attending a Godfrey Phillips board meeting, worsening their ₹11,000 crore inheritance dispute
Samir Modi, the executive director of Godfrey Phillips, accused his mother of orchestrating an attack on him, worsening the inheritance dispute among the late K.K. Modi’s family members, the Economic Times reported.
He lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police on Friday, accusing his mother, her personal security officer (PSO) and some Godfrey Phillips directors of causing him “grievous hurt” with the PSO holding his hand and twisting it, when he tried to enter the scheduled board meeting of Godfrey Phillips at Jasola in Delhi.
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His mother had previously offered to purchase his stake in the company.
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“I shouted for help and after much commotion, the door of the board meeting was opened and I was let in. I informed my mother, Mrs Bina Modi, of what transpired and how I was assaulted and grievously injured,” Modi said in the complaint seen by the Economic Times. “Rather than sympathising with me, she paid no heed to my fragile condition and shouted at me to sit down and attend the board meeting. She told the PSO ‘enough for now’, confirming that she was one of the persons who had given the PSO instructions to attack and injure me.”
Modi wrote in his complaint that his right-hand index finger was broken into two and required a screw and wire to be put together, with doctors telling that his finger will never be fully functional again.
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“While the court case on settlement of shares is pending, I’ll not sell my stake now,” he told the Economic Times late on Friday at his New Friends Colony home in the Capital. “The effort is to remove me from the board, which will not happen.”
A Godfrey Phillips spokesperson rejected the accusation. “These allegations are entirely false and atrocious,” the person said. “The alleged episode occurred outside the board room when the audit committee meeting was in progress at about 12 noon. This has been captured on in-house CCTV cameras, which can be provided to the relevant investigating authorities.”
The dispute among the family members is regarding the distribution of a ₹11,000 crore inheritance after the death of KK Modi in 2019. Samir Modi had challenged his mother over her handling of the affairs in the Supreme Court, in a case still pending.
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The inheritance includes the family’s nearly 50% shareholding in listed Godfrey Phillips worth well over ₹5,500 crore, as well as shares in other Modi group firms.
“This attack was orchestrated because of greed and to deprive me of my rights, my inheritance and with the intention to kill me or make me settle on their dictated terms,” Modi said in his complaint. “My mother and Mr.Bhasin orchestrated this assault and the other present board members were consenting parties to this assault. Please make sure that the strictest of action is taken. These people are very influential and moneyed and will attempt to derail the process.”
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