In a significant legal victory for Boney Kapoor and daughters Janhvi Kapoor and Khushi Kapoor, the Madras High Court has dismissed a civil suit related to a Chennai property that was purchased in the name of late actress Sridevi in 1988.
Boney Kapoor, Janhvi Kapoor and Khushi Kapoor get big relief as Madras High Court dismisses Chennai property lawsuit involving Sridevi
According to Bar and Bench reports, Justice TV Tamilselvi allowed the civil revision petition filed by the Kapoor family and overturned the earlier order passed by the Chengalpattu court, which had refused to dismiss the petition filed by the plaintiffs. This case was heard in Boney Kapoor vs C Sivakami case.
The dispute revolves around a 2.70-acre property located in Sholinganallur, Chennai. The plaintiffs, identified as MC Sivakami, MC Natarajan and Chandrabhanu, had approached the court claiming inheritance rights over the land as alleged legal heirs of late MC Chandrasekaran. He had also questioned the validity of the 1988 sale deeds executed in favor of Sridevi, her mother and sister, alleging that the vendors did not have valid ownership of the property at the time of the transaction.
The petitioners had further argued that the land originally belonged to MC Sambanda Mudaliar, who had reportedly acquired large tracts of land in the area in the 1940s. According to their plea, they came to know about the alleged irregularities in 2023 when the lease was issued in the names of Boney Kapoor, Janhvi Kapoor and Khushi Kapoor.
However, the Kapoor family challenged the maintainability of the trial before the High Court under Order VII Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure. His counsel argued that the plaintiff was not recognized as the first-class legal heir of Chandrasekaran and highlighted that he himself had never disputed the sale deeds during his lifetime. Chandrasekaran died in 1995, while the current trial was set only in 2025.
The High Court agreed with the Kapoor family’s arguments and found that the challenge to the transaction was initiated nearly four decades after the sale, thereby limiting the case. The court also noted inconsistencies in the plaintiffs’ claims regarding legal succession and pointed out that the certificate on which they had relied had already been cancelled.
Furthermore, the court found it difficult to accept the claim that the plaintiff became aware of the property transaction only in 2023. It also commented that after Sridevi’s demise, the property was legally transferred to Boney Kapoor and daughters Janhvi Kapoor and Khushi Kapoor. Terming the litigation an abuse of legal process aimed at laying claim to the property through a distress petition, the High Court ultimately dismissed the petition and set aside the earlier trial court order.
