High Court extends Stay on Trial in Sridevi Property Dispute after Boney Kapoor, Daughters challenge suit

On Monday, the Madras High Court continued its interim protection to film producer Boney Kapoor and his daughters Janhvi Kapoor and Khushi Kapoor in a long-running property dispute linked to late actor Sridevi. The Court extended a stay on trial proceedings pending before a Chengalpattu court after the Kapoor family challenged an order refusing to throw out a civil suit seeking a share in a valuable land parcel near the East Coast Road. The High Court has now fixed the matter for final consideration later this month, keeping the lower court proceedings on hold in the meantime.

The dispute traces back to a civil suit filed by members of a family claiming inheritance rights over a 4.7-acre property allegedly purchased decades ago by Sridevi and her sister. The plaintiffs contend that the land originally belonged to their grandfather and that the sale deeds executed in 1988 transferring the property were fraudulent. In response, Kapoor moved the trial court seeking rejection of the plaint under the Civil Procedure Code, arguing that the claims were legally untenable, barred by limitation and founded on suppressed facts.

The plaintiffs opposed the move, maintaining that their claim involved disputed factual questions and that the legality of the property transfers could only be tested through a full trial.

While considering the challenge, the High Court took note of the trial court’s reasoning that rejection of a plaint is permissible only in narrowly defined circumstances. The lower court had observed that the suit disclosed a cause of action and could not be dismissed at the threshold. It recorded that “a plaint can be rejected only under specific grounds prescribed in law,” and concluded that the dispute required adjudication through trial. The High Court has now stayed the trial and listed the case for final disposal on March 26, effectively pausing further proceedings in the Chengalpattu court.