Producer Boney Kapoor approached the Madras High Court on Monday to contest claims made to a Chennai property owned by Sridevi. He claimed that the trio were trying to make a fraudulent bid for the farmhouse purchased by his late wife in 1988. The plea urged the court to cancel the ‘fake’ legal heirship certificate granted in favour of the three individuals.
According to a report by The Hindu, Justice N. Anand Venkatesh has now directed the Tambaram Taluk Tahsildar to take a decision within four weeks. The writ petition had been submitted by the prominent Bollywood film producer in April this year.
What is the case?
Sridevi had reportedly purchased the Chennai property in April 1988. Kapoor told the court that she and her family members had been in absolute possession and enjoyment of the property — now a farmhouse — since that time. He also revealed that the original owner of the land (MC Sambanda Mudaliar) had three sons and two daughters who had entered into a mutual agreement in 1960 about the division of property.
The petition noted that this agreement had been the basis for Sridevi to purchase the property and register the sale deed. The three claimants who have now come forward insist that they too had an undivided share in the property. They had subsequently obtained a legal heirship certificate — insisting that they were the second wife and two children of one of the three sons of Mudaliar.
Boney Kapoor pays tribute to Sridevi
The court order comes mere days after what would have been the 62nd birth anniversary of Sridevi in mid-August. She is celebrated as the first female superstar of Indian cinema — with an unmatched career spanning Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu films. She married Boney Kapoor in 1996.
“Yes, you are not 62 today. You are 26. Happy birthday; we are still reliving all your happy birthdays,” Kapoor wrote on Instagram while posting a beautiful still of Sridevi from her film English Vinglish.
In a career spanning over five decades, Sridevi was honoured with several prestigious awards and was also given the Padma Shri – India’s fourth-highest civilian honour – in 2013. The actress made her acting debut at the age of four with the 1967 Tamil film ‘Kandhan Karunai.’ Later, in 1972, she made her first appearance in Bollywood with the film ‘Rani Mera Naam.’ She went on to leave an indelible mark on her fans with several iconic roles in Hindi films like ‘Chandni’, ‘Lamhe’, ‘Mr India’, ‘Chaalbaaz’, ‘Nagina’, ‘Sadma’ and ‘English Vinglish’, among others. Her last film was ‘Mom’, for which she also received the Best Actress National Award, posthumously.
(With inputs from agencies)