CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has set aside the order of the Chengalpattu court and dismissed a civil suit filed seeking rights over a property purchased by the late actress Sridevi.
According to the case records, in 1988, Sridevi had purchased a 4.77-acre property located on the East Coast Road (ECR) in Chennai from the family of Sambanda Mudaliar. It was submitted that the actress had been in possession and enjoyment of the property for the past 37 years.
Subsequently, three individuals Natarajan and Sivagami, the son and daughter of Chandrasekaran Mudaliar (son of Sambandha Mudaliar), along with Chandrasekaran Mudaliar’s second wife obtained a legal heirship certificate and filed a civil suit before the Additional Sessions Court in Chengalpattu claiming a share in the property.
Challenging the maintainability of the suit, Boney Kapoor and their daughters, actresses Janhvi Kapoor and Khushi Kapoor, filed an application before the Chengalpattu court seeking dismissal of the suit.
However, the Chengalpattu court dismissed their plea, observing that the issue of title over the property could be determined only after a full-fledged trial.
Aggrieved by the said order, Boney Kapoor, along with Janhvi Kapoor and Khushi Kapoor, filed a petition before the Madras High Court.
Justice TV Thamilselvi, who heard the matter, observed that an earlier suit filed by the same plaintiffs claiming a share in the very same property had already been dismissed by this Court. The Court further held that the present suit had been filed by abusing the process of law with an intention to usurp the property.
Accordingly, the learned Judge set aside the order of the Chengalpattu court, allowed the application filed by Sridevi’s family, and rejected the civil suit instituted against them.