Samir Modi, heir to tobacco fortune, arrested on rape charges amid family feud
Samir Modi, heir to the Godfrey Phillips tobacco empire and brother of Lalit Modi, has been arrested on rape charges in Delhi, intensifying the Modi family’s bitter corporate feud.
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Samir Modi, an executive scion of one of the country's most prominent business families, was arrested in New Delhi on Thursday on charges of rape, according to the Delhi Police. The complaint, filed on Sept 10, accuses Modi of repeatedly assaulting a former employee of Godfrey Phillips India, the tobacco company founded by his late father, industrialist K.K. Modi. Modi was arrested at the Delhi airport, reportedly while he was attempting to board a flight.
New details suggest that the complainant was not only a former employee but also Mr. Modi’s live-in partner. According to a report in The Indian Express, the 55-year-old executive and the woman had been in a relationship for nearly eight years. The woman told police she had been raped by Modi and, according to reports, later sought a settlement of ₹50 crore. Following his arrest on Thursday, he was presented before a Delhi court and remanded to judicial custody, the publication added.
Modi, the youngest son of Bina Modi, chairperson of Godfrey Phillips, and the brother of Lalit Modi, has denied the allegations. His lawyers described the case as a bid to extort money.
The arrest adds a new chapter to a long-running and often public family feud over control of the Modi business empire. Last year, Modi was removed from the board of Godfrey Phillips following a bitter clash with his mother and other directors. That dispute spilled into the open in May 2024, when Modi claimed he was physically assaulted during a board meeting - allegations that led to a police inquiry but no charges against his mother.
The younger Modi has also faced legal battles tied to the governance struggle. He was acquitted in May of defamation charges brought by three former independent directors of Godfrey Phillips, who had accused him of tarnishing their reputations during the dispute.
The Modi family saga has been closely watched in corporate circles, both for its implications on one of the country’s leading consumer businesses and for its echoes of dynastic infighting that has reshaped several of family-owned conglomerates.
