Apollo Hospital has been ordered by the Delhi Police to provide an explanation for the two separate discharge summaries it released about the alleged assault on Godfrey Phillips India managing director Samir Modi.
The FIR, which Business Standard has examined, claims that in the two separate discharge summaries, the surgery years were stated as 2019 and 2024.
“The two discharge summaries also provide some other variances. Why and what is the cause of these differences? The inspector at the Sarita Vihar Police Station has requested that the response be sent as soon as possible to allow for more inquiry into the case or filing of a formal complaint.
On July 9, the Delhi Police verified that the personal security officer (PSO) of Godfrey Phillips India’s managing director and chairman, Bina Modi, had attacked executive director Samir Modi.
Nevertheless, there isn’t enough evidence for the authorities to accuse Godfrey Phillips India independent director Lalit Bhasin or Bina Modi of criminal conspiracy or intimidation.
On June 27, 2024, the younger son of KK and Bina Modi filed a formal complaint with Delhi Police, alleging that he had been subjected to “grievous hurt” by his mother, her personal security officer (PSO), and the directors of Godfrey Phillips.
He had claimed that his mother was planning an assault on him in order to obtain advantage in the ongoing inheritance battle. He said that his mother had been planning to have him removed from the board of the business.
Godfrey Phillips also has Bina Modi as a director.
Samir Modi had filed a request with the Saket district court to have the inquiry monitored, the accused people’s phone records and CCTV footage preserved, and their cell phones seized.
Following this, the PSO to Bina Modi wrote the Delhi Police and petitioned the Saket court to look into the claim and obtain a new assessment of Samir Modi’s injuries from a government hospital.
Manu Sharma, the PSO’s counsel for Bina Modi, told Business Standard that preparing a single discharge summary is standard procedure. How are the two discharge summaries different from one other? CCTV video disproves the assault theory. He suggested that Delhi Police have to look into Apollo Hospital’s involvement and request that a government hospital look into Samir Modi’s purported surgery.
On July 23, Bina Modi withdrew her petition for contempt from the Supreme Court against her sons, Lalit and Samir Modi.
In response to her son Samir’s claims that she assaulted him during a board meeting, her attorney notified the court that she would not be filing contempt charges.
The incident occurs against the backdrop of a contentious succession battle over an estimated Rs 11,000-crore inheritance following the death of family patriarch KK Modi in 2019. One of KK Modi’s three children and brother to former Indian Premier League (IPL) owner Lalit Modi, Samir Modi has filed a Supreme Court case contesting his mother’s handling of the family’s finances.
The inheritance includes a nearly 50 per cent shareholding in Godfrey Phillips, valued at over Rs 5,500 crore, and stakes in other Modi group firms in sectors such as cosmetics, retail, and direct selling. Samir Modi has accused his mother of not distributing the funds as stipulated in a trust deed executed by his father, and of taking control of the company in violation of the deed’s terms. The deed states that Samir Modi, Lalit Modi, and Charu Modi are equally entitled to the businesses and assets as successors and beneficiaries.
A Delhi court on July 31 had said FMCG major Godfrey Phillips can now exit from its loss making retail business of 24Seven as a court lifted an injunction placed on the exit.
The company recently made an announcement stating that it intended to leave the retail industry. But on June 27, a Delhi court directed it to maintain the status quo regarding the 24Seven retail operations on an application by Samir Modi, who had sought the injunction.