Finally, Bombay HC settles property fight dragging on for 75 yrs | India News

MUMBAI: A family property dispute that began before the Bombay HC just two weeks after the Constitution came into force has finally ended 76 years later. On Feb 27, the court ordered the partition of the remaining one acre (4,271 sqm) of land in Yerawada, Pune, among the heirs of landowner MMH Janmohamed who had left behind two large and valuable plots, including one on Deccan College Road, reports Swati Deshpande. In a judgment made available on March 11, Justice Farhan Dubash brought closure to the decades-long legal battle between two sets of heirs. The dispute dates back to Feb 8, 1950, when Ebrahim Chotani and other heirs filed a suit against Osman Chotani – another heir – seeking partition and their shares in the properties. In March 1950, the HC appointed a court receiver to manage the disputed properties, permitted their sale, and later that month directed a preliminary partition. The Maharashtra govt acquired the Deccan College Road plot, and the compensation was distributed among the heirs in 1979. What remained under dispute was a 16 acre plot in Yerawada. The case became more complicated when the heirs of a manager appointed by the landowner during his lifetime claimed rights over the property, asserting the land had been given in lieu of debts. They also claimed half the property, relying on a written note dated June 1946 from Osman, the court noted. Another individual also claimed ownership, citing adverse possession. In 1952, the court receiver filed a suit in a Pune civil court seeking the land’s possession. In June 1953, the manager’s heirs agreed to relinquish their broader claim in exchange for a one-fourth share of the 16 acre plot, acknowledging the property belonged to the Chotani family. A compromise settlement followed in 1955, but the land remained unpartitioned for another three decades.