Boney Kapoor moves Madras High Court over Sridevi's property: What's the case?

Indian film producer Boney Kapoor has knocked on the doors of the Madras High Court over late-wife Sridevi's Chennai property. Kapoor has moved to court against three individuals, who are unlawfully claiming rights over the land. Kapoor has filed a case against three individuals who are allegedly making unlawful claims over the land.

According to The Hindu, Sridevi purchased the property on East Coast Road (ECR), Chennai, in 1988. The land, which has since been used as a farmhouse by the Kapoor family.

What is the dispute?

Boney Kapoor has filed a plea against a woman and her two sons, who are allegedly fraudulently claiming rights to the property. He told the court that Sridevi bought the land on April 19, 1988, from MC Sambanda Mudaliar, completing all legal formalities.

Mudaliar had divided the property among family members in the 1960s through mutual agreements. However, the dispute began when a woman, claiming to be Mudaliar’s son second wife, along with her two sons, asserted ownership rights. They had even obtained a legal heirship certificate from the Tambaram Tahsildar in 2005

In his plea, Kapoor has challenged the validity of the marriage, stating that Mudaliar’s first wife was alive until 1999, making any alleged second marriage legally invalid. Kapoor has also questioned the authenticity of the heirship certificate, calling it fraudulent, and urged the court to revoke it.

What court is saying?

Hearing the plea, Justice N. Anand Venkatesh directed the Tambaram Tahsildar to decide within four weeks on Kapoor’s request to cancel the disputed certificate. The Chennai property, which the Kapoor family continues to use as a farmhouse, remains significant to Boney and his daughters as a memory of Sridevi.