Mumbai, Dec. 23 -- Ego and greed have eroded the 'noble and precious' bond between a brother and a sister and the relationship is now fraught with "disputes, emotional tension or unresolved conflict", the Bombay High Court observed last week while hearing a dispute between a Ghatkopar-based brother and sister, both senior citizens, over property. "The root cause of this broken sibling relationship can be attributed to greed, ego and desire of a materialistic life than to crave for life with peace and harmony. Siblings should learn to give up than to give into litigation," justice Jitendra Jain said in his order dated December 19. Referring to the brother's defamation suit against his sister for allegedly using "abusive language" against him, justice Jain said, "It is with great sadness that this court has to observe that people who are senior citizens or who are about to reach that age and who have experience of life so closely and religiously, have used these words." The court had earlier asked both the siblings to file undertakings not to use offensive words against each other, but to no avail. India celebrates festivals like Raksha Bandhan and Bhaidooj "to ensure both siblings would stand with each other in good and bad times," the court said. "However, nowadays, sadly, siblings don't stand together but against each other in court of law." The court was hearing the appeal filed by the brother challenging an order of the city civil court that stemmed from an error in recording the name of an advocate who did not represent him in the suit filed before the High Court in 2009. The High Court granted him relief by allowing him eight weeks to file his written submissions in the defamation suit. The brother had also initiated perjury proceedings against his sister. The court said that multiple proceedings between siblings were "nothing but an attempt to clog the system and a counterblast against each other". Justice Jain observed, "This is one of the reasons why the courts are unable to take up matters which really deserve more attention". The court said considering the age of the siblings, their best interest lied in an amicable resolution of their disputes. "After all the bond between a brother and sister is sometimes tightly woven, sometimes loosely held but never broken," the court said....