Summary of this article
The Supreme Court orders status quo on Sridevi’s Chennai property.
Court issues notices to Boney, Janhvi, and Khushi Kapoor.
Claimants allege the land sale deeds executed in 1988 were fraudulent.
The Supreme Court has ordered a status quo on a 4.70 acre property located near East Coast Road in Chennai, concerning the estate of the late actor Sridevi. A Bench comprising Justice KV Viswanathan and Justice Arun Pillai issued formal notices to Sridevi’s husband, filmmaker Boney Kapoor, and her daughters, Jahnvi Kapoor and Khushi Kapoor, directing a halt, effectively, to any change to the property’s status until the next date of hearing.
The petitioner, MC Sivakami and her brother MC Natarajan, along with their mother Chandrabhanu, had approached the Supreme Court, claiming a share in the property. They are seeking the sale deeds, through which Sridevi and her sister originally acquired the property, to be declared null and void. They contend that the sale transactions were fraudulent and that the land belongs to their paternal grandfather, and thus, it belongs to them.
The matter escalated to the Supreme Court after the Madras High Court rejected the plaintiff’s suit on an application filed by Boney Kapoor and his daughters.
Earlier, when the matter was with the trial court, Boney Kapoor had moved an application, arguing that the plaintiff’s claim was unsustainable because Chandrabhanu’s marriage was void ab initio, because it was contracted during the subsistence of a prior marriage. It was highlighted that the plaintiff has also suppressed an earlier property claim that was rejected by the court, which amounts to fraud on the judiciary, according to a report by Live Law.
While the trial court had initially dismissed Kapoor’s plea by holding that these disputed facts could only be decided during trial, the high court set aside the trial court’s order. Justice TV Tamilselvi noted the plaintiffs’ attempt to conceal vital information regarding their late father MC Chandrasekaran’s first marriage and characterised the property suit as a deliberate attempt to grab the land by abusing the legal process.
It also noted that the sale deed has been in existence since 1988 without any challenge by Chandrasekaran during his lifetime. This indicates that the claim filed in 2023, nearly 40 years after execution of the sale deed as unbelievable and barred by limitation.
Now, the matter is with the Supreme Court, which has issued notice to the Kapoor family, including Boney Kapoor, Jahnvi Kapoor, and Khushi Kapoor, and suggested mediation to the parties before the matter is heard again. The matter is scheduled to be heard again on December 18, 2026.
