New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday quashed defamation proceedings initiated against former Godfrey Phillips India executive director Samir K. Modi by independent directors Nirmala Bagri and Atul Kumar Gupta, who alleged that the former's public statement regarding an alleged physical assault on him during a May 2024 board meeting had severely damaged their reputation.Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said Modi cannot be said to have made or disseminated any false or defamatory imputation against the duo as a plain reading of the news articles made it evident that the portion attributed to Modi did not pertain to Bagri and Gupta, but pertained to his mother, Bina Modi, the chairperson and managing director of Godfrey Phillips.Also Read: Reply to plea seeking compliance with recommendations of disability commissions: Supreme Court notice to CentreThe only segment of the news articles, regarding which Bagri and Gupta had complained, was a single line stating that the other present board members were consenting parties to the assault, it said, adding that this line was a verbatim reproduction of the allegation made by Modi in his police complaint.The line was not an independent statement made by Modi to the news correspondents but a reproduction of an accusation made by him to the police in the course of invoking the criminal law, the judge said.Also Read: Supreme Court gets five new judges; strength to go up to 37The high court said the trial court orders directing issuance of summons to Modi cannot be sustained in law and are, therefore, set aside, and the consequential proceedings emanating therefrom are also quashed.Modi had alleged that during a May 2024 board meeting he was allegedly stopped by his mother's personal security officer and he was physically assaulted, resulting in a fractured finger. Thereafter, he said in an interview that the board members orchestrated an attack to prevent him from attending the meeting. Bagri and Gupta had then accused Modi of defaming them by publicly claiming that they had consented to the attack on him.