Modi family feud: Lalit Bhasin refutes Samir Modi's charges

New Delhi: Lalit Bhasin, an independent director at Godfrey Phillips, has refuted allegations made against him by Samir Modi, a promoter and board member of the tobacco company.

Samir Modi claimed that he was assaulted at a board meeting in May at the behest of other directors, including his mother Bina Modi and Bhasin.

"This is something personal. Defamatory, libellous, outrageous allegations have been made against me," Bhasin told ET.


These are the first public comments by any of the company's independent directors amid an ongoing shareholder fight in which family members have taken sides.

Bhasin said he has filed a complaint in court against Samir Modi but would not go into the merits of the case. "Since this is a criminal matter, the learned court will decide after hearing all the parties," he said.

Bhasin is a lawyer and serves on the boards of several companies. He has deposed before a South Delhi court that the allegations had cast a shadow on his image in the legal fraternity.

Samir Modi, in an FIR registered with Delhi police, alleged that an assault on him by Bina Modi's personal security officer at a board meeting on May 30 was part of a conspiracy by the company's directors, including his mother.

"The assault by the PSO (personal security officer) was and could not be carried out without instructions. It defies logic that the PSO would stop and then assault an executive director of the company just because he was entering a called-for meeting. It is for anyone to surmise who instructed the PSO to stop an executive director," Samir Modi's office said in a statement on Saturday.

Bina Modi, widow of KK Modi and chairperson and MD , is locked in a legal battle with her sons Samir and Lalit Modi.