Chennai, March 17 (IANS) The Madras High Court has granted an interim stay in a property dispute involving the late actress Sridevi, temporarily halting proceedings before a civil court in Chengalpattu.

The order comes as a relief to Sridevi’s family, who have challenged competing claims over a prime parcel of land along Chennai’s East Coast Road.

The dispute pertains to 4.77 acres of land purchased by Sridevi in 1988 from the family of Sambandha Mudaliar.

According to court records, the actress and her family have been in possession and enjoyment of the property for over three decades.

The issue arose after three individuals, including Natarajan and Sivagami, identified as the son and daughter of Chandrasekaran Mudaliar’s second wife, secured a legal heir certificate and filed a civil suit before the Chengalpattu Additional District Court, claiming a share in the property.

In response, Sridevi’s husband, film producer Boney Kapoor, along with daughters and actors Janhvi Kapoor and Khushi Kapoor, moved the Chengalpattu court seeking dismissal of the suit.

However, the court declined their request, observing that questions relating to title and ownership could only be adjudicated after a full-fledged trial.

Aggrieved by this order, the Kapoor family approached the Madras High Court, challenging the maintainability of the suit itself. In their petition, they alleged that the claimants had fraudulently obtained the legal heir certificate using fabricated documents.

The petition further contended that although the original property owner was residing in Mylapore, the certificate had been secured from the Tambaram Tahsildar office in 2005 by misrepresenting facts.

It also questioned the validity of the claimants’ legal heir status, arguing that the alleged second marriage of Mudaliar took place during the lifetime of his first wife, thereby rendering any such claims legally untenable.

The petitioners maintained that the Chengalpattu court had erred in refusing to dismiss the suit at the preliminary stage despite these serious allegations.

Hearing the matter, Justice T.V. Thamilselvi issued an interim stay on all further proceedings in the Chengalpattu court and posted the case for final hearing on March 26.

The High Court’s interim order effectively pauses the ongoing trial, setting the stage for a crucial determination on the validity of the rival claims in the coming days.

–IANS

aal/vd