Supreme Court slams ex-IPL chief Lalit Modi over social media post, orders apology

The former commissioner of the Indian Premier League, Lalit Modi has been put in trouble due to his remarks against the judiciary in a social media post. The Supreme Court came down heavily agaisnt him on Thursday and directed him to tender an unconditional apology. A bench of Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar said it was not satisfied with the counter affidavit filed by Modi adding that he is not above the law and institution. The SC had directed him to tender an apology on social media and also in leading national newspapers.

Modi has also been directed by the apex court to file an affidavit before it tendering an apology and stating that he will not post such things in the future which would be tantamount, even remotely, that tarnishing the image of the Indian judiciary.

On August 1 in 2022, Justice R V Raveendran was appointed by the Supreme Court as a mediator to settle a family property dispute involving the former IPL head and his mother Bina Modi. Senior advocate Rohatgi is one of the counsels representing Bina Modi in the vexatious property dispute.

‘This is a violation of the court orders’ – Kapil Sibal

At the outset, senior advocate Kapil Sibal submitted before the bench there was an undertaking that there would be no posts while mediation was going on. ”Comments are being made while the mediation is going on. These should be taken down. This is a violation of the court orders,” Sibal said. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Lalit Modi, said there was no breach of the court order and this was just an angry outburst.

The top court was apprised that mediation process between the parties was underway. Lalit Modi had made some comment about Rohatgi in an Instagram post. Later, though another post, he reportedly apologised to the senior advocate.