Hello everyone. I never thought i would see this day. We belong to a very humble middle class background and have grown up with upright values. My father toiled all his life and was able to purchase a 16000 SQ FT plot (N.A) from Mr. Bhavsar nearly some 23 years ago. It was a plotting scheme by Mr. Bhavsar which had nearly 60-70 people owning a plot like ours. Many people were not able to pay the whole amount and hence their property ownership did not get transfered. All their plots were later occupied by a BJP MP who paid them 5-10 lakhs per plot for vacating the premises. Whereas we paid the whole amount in full and The registered sale deed, property tax documents and all other important original land documents are with us. We have been regularly paying the property tax also know as mehsool in gujarat. The property's market value could easily be around INR 70 Lakhs at present. Now Mr. Kishore died some 15 years ago and his brother Mr. Dilip entered into an agreement to sell the whole property including our land to a BJP MP's goon back by one of the most powerful man in our city. He is now not letting us enter our own property or give us a way/road to go to our plot. He is asking us to accept 28 lakh rupees and hand over all the documents to him or else he is threatening us with dire consequences including indirectly telling from other people that he will kill my dad and show to the court that my dad already sold him the property through notarized agreement with fraud signatures. This case will take forever and we will never see a dime for this plot in our lifetime. 2 things to consider here. Even if this goon claims that Mr. Kishore's his brother sold him and my dad both the same property at different times, we still have original signatures of the deceased (Mr. Kishore) and his brother Mr. Dilp on our sale deed clearly mentioning his good state of mind while signing the documents. This is something that is impossible for the opposite party to produce in the court. Mr. Dilip tells us that he will inform the court that he signed those papers under undue pressure from us. They have already registered the case on us and despite of them not being present in the court for even a single date, the local court has ruled the verdict in their favour. Clearly all the judges and police people are in his pockets. Can please anyone tell me if we should get out of this matter and settle at such a less amount or fight for justice? The only thing we ask him is to give way to our plot and let us enter and construct on our own premises. They simply tell us that if we don't accept the money they are offering at present, they will not pay a single paisa to us in the future and harm/harass our whole family... I am really scared and don't know what to do.. my mother father and everyone at home is worried. I dont want my dad to get hurt! I want to fight for justice here.. Money is secondary for us now, its a matter of standing up for what is right. Things like this should not happen. Please is there anyone here who can help? We went to so many advocates but all of them are asking for a lot of upfront money which is something we cannot afford. We don't mind paying a fair retainer fee though. Please if there is anyone who can feel our plight, help me... I have so many questions in my head. Please contact me on 9-0-999-11-910
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1. Do not bow down under such threats. there is rule of law in the country and if one decides to protest no can dare touch him.
2. File a civil suit for declaration and injunction. Do remember that once civil suit is filed and the property ios litigated the market value of the property decreases a lot and hence the goons may loose interest in the property.
3. You can lodge complaint with local police as well.
If You have decided to fight, you may have to file a mandatory in junction suit against the goon who is threatening you seeking direction of court to restrain him from interfering into your peaceful possession and enjoyment of the property.
Though there are some corrupt official supporting the goon, the law and justice still prevails.
You may engage a proper and prudent advocate who will fight out your case and will help you get justice.
1) litigation is an expensive proposition and you need to have deep pockets
2) you have strong case on merits as your father purchased plot by registered sale deed , property tax is in your names
3) you cannot be denied right of access to your plot
4) under indian easement act 1882 you have right of passage over the existing path to access your land
5) you can obtain permanent injunction restraining BJP MILA from obstructing your right of passage . pending hearing and final disposal of suit you can claim interim reliefs .
1. It is wrong that the judges are in his pocket. Nobody can pocket a judge in this country. Your assertion is not out of sync with the misinformed public behavior to ascribe judicial subservience or corruption to a judge who rules in favour of a politician. What people do not understand is that there may be be multiple reasons for losing a case, viz failure to produce the required documents in the court, weak defence, inefficient lawyer or an incompetent judge. The Supreme Court and High Courts have been created to correct the erroneous judgments of the lower courts. You are free to challenge the judgment of the local court in a higher court.
2. You must also note that the parties are not personally required to turn up in the court if the lawyer engaged by them is present.
3. Engage a competent lawyer and carry the legal battle to the higher courts which can reverse the judgment of the lower court.
4. Consult a lawyer and show him the judgment of the lower court so that he can chalk out your further legal recourse. You have only 60 days to move the higher court.
A big vote of thanks to all the lawyers. I am aware about filing the injunction suit and we are in the process of doing the same. Can anyone give a little bit indepth information about my case as to what could be a permanent or long term remedy to this problem step by step for a layman like me? Mr. Devajyoti, thank for your prompt response. We have hired a lawyer and have begun the proceedings. We have asked the goon to present his documents which till date he has not given. However, you mentioned that our property value will decrease after the litigation starts so what are you trying to say that we should accept whatever money they are offering us currently and back out or wait and watch and fight out in the higher courts? If you we do the later, can you a retrospective timeline of events? For eg: how long will it take? What are the approx costs that might be involved? and things like that... Dear Mr. Ajay Sethi - Thank you for your quick revert. You mentioned that litigation is an expensive process and one should have deep pockets which at present we are not capable of. What would you then suggest to us in this kind of a situation? Should we accept or fight it out. My gut says fight it out. I dont want a single penny from the sale proceedings of that land, but my parents deserve it after their whole life of hardwork. They have never done anything for themselves, always looked after us kids. Could you throw more light on what you mean by claiming interim reliefs? Mr. Ashish - Thank you for your response as well. I have been closely following your answers to other questions on this website and have always been overwhelmed by the detailed answers that you give. However, in my case i feel the exact opposite. Are you trying to tell me that i am misinformed about the judges and the judiciary system? because trust me i am not. If you would have known our case and how the judge declared the verdict without even asking from proof from the opposite party your jaw would drop. Secondly, we are preparing to move to the high courts but the lawyer's fees are too much, yet we have engaged with a humble lawyer who is willing to fight for us at a less upfront fee and a fair retainer fee (after winning the case and sale of land) Now here is my general questions to all of you. 1) In 2007, we received a notice from the municipal that we need to construct something on our plot. But since the goons would simply not allow us to go inside the gate, we couldn't do the same. Does this hamper our chances of winning the case? 2) The goons have not directly threatened us. Instead they use other people to threaten us indirectly. Should i file a police complaint in such a case? if yes, then how? what is the procedure? Should i register an NC complaint? 3) Many people are telling us that if we fight for a couple of months or years, the BJP MP will himself give us a better price than the current 28 lakhs as he needs that part of land to implement the construction of his future scheme/plan. What are the possibilities of such a thing in your opinion? 4) All we ask is to let us go to our plot and give us road/way. Any further advice anyone can give regarding this matter? Please feel free to call on 9-0-999-11-910 (Kaizad)
1) I had said no further query raised as on the website only word n was found
2)your subsequent query had now been reflected on the website
3) you have strong case on merits .you should fight it out
4) by interim reliefs I meant obtain stay restraining MLA from disturbing your peaceful possession and from obstructing your right of way
5) suit will take years to be disposed of depending upon pendency of cases
6) if notice was issued by municipal corporation that you must construct on said plot did you seek Extension of time for carrying on construction . did you inform them of your inability to carry on further construction at present on account of roadblock being created by anti social elements
7) you should record threats and file police complaint under section 506 of IPC for criminal intimidation
8) your best option in my view is to raise the issue in press as to how local MLA is harassing senior citizen like your father to deprive him of his land
1. I am not trying to tell you that you are misinformed, rather I tell you that you are misinformed. You are ignorant about the procedural law as well as the procedure of superintendence exercised by the higher courts over the lower courts. Even a mighty corrupt judge would pass his order in a manner so as to ensure that the higher court is not, in exercise of its power of judicial superintendence, able to detect the taint of corruption as demonstrable in the judgment itself. I am not prepared to believe that the judge gave a ready made judgment to your opponent without following the bare minimum requirements of law. Having seen corrupt judges and how they function, trust me, there are better ways to do this. The judgment of the court may be erroneous, but this does not lead to a presumption that it was actuated by corruption. We come across scores of flawed judgments everyday but the flaw is attributable to the incompetence of the judges of the lower courts and not corruption. Did you see the judge of the lower court being bribed? If the answer is no, there is a presumption that the judgment did not stem out of any extraneous considerations. No litigant has ever emerged victorious in the higher courts by making unsubstantiated allegations against judges. You will not be an exception either.
2. You are misinterpreting the expression 'proof'. Any practising lawyer would inform you that the word 'proof' does not exist in the procedural law which governs us. You should understand how 'proof' is submitted and when the liability to adduce it stands dispensed. If there was an act by you either during the proceedings in the court or at anytime before the institution of the case, whereby and whereunder you waived your complete or part of legal claim, the liability of your opponent to adduce proof was no longer indispensable. So if at all the judge passed the verdict without asking him to prove his claim (as you have put it) there is a fair possibility that the liability to prove the claim, sought to have been proved by him, may have been discharged due to a positive or negative act done by you before the filing of or during the case. Be that as it may, I am not saying the judgment does not suffer from the vice of legal infirmities, Your lawyer, who has the privilege of having all the case related documents before him, is in the best position to apply his legal mind to guide you as to the further legal recourse.
3. Does the law to which your property is subject, mandate a construction of a particular nature within a specified time? What are the legal consequences mandated by the law for failure to obey the notice? What is the time which had elapsed from the last day to obey the notice and the filing of the case? Questions like these cannot be answered in black and white unless one is cognizant of the complete background.
4. You are free to file a police complaint for criminal intimidation against those who threaten you.
5. The tactic of contesting the case to bring the MP to the negotiating table may or may not work. It does not apply across the board in all cases at all times as some individuals are chronic litigants.
6. It is good for you that you got a lawyer who is within the reach of your affordability, albeit it is illegal for a lawyer to either take his fee as a percentage of the decree amount, or to make his fee contingent on the result of the case.
7. Please do not leave your number here as the rules of Bar Council of India forbid a lawyer to solicit legal work. For a lawyer to contact a litigant, who is not his client, would be an act which would amount to solicitation of legal work, albeit you are free to contact any lawyer. It would be unethical for a lawyer to call you unless of course he takes up your case pro bono.
I do however, wish you all the best!
Thank you Mr. Ajay and ashish. Ajay with respect to your question "did you inform them of your inability to carry on further construction at present on account of roadblock being created by anti social elements ", I would like to inform you that my dad had written a reply to their notice stating that he is having insufficient funds to construct on the plot but he is ready to pay the duty or penalty charges as mentioned by the municipality and have already done the plot mapping through a surveyor. The same was duly accepted by the municipality so there is no pending issue regarding the same. We however did not inform them about the anti social elements because at that time, there was no such issue faced by us by those goons. Its only very recent, that they have suddenly started to take so much interest in this land. Probably because the development around the vicinity has increased over the last 5 years. Secondly, Ashish, thank you for your reply. Although its quite difficult for a layman to understand you highly trained English vocabulary with lots of legal jargons attached to it, i can still understand the crux of what you are trying to put across. With regards to your question about how the judge ruled the decision in the MLA's favor is that he gave documents to the court that Mr. Deepak had transferred the property to his name and he has also given us money to evacuate the premises. He showed the relevant documents except the registered sale deed to the court and the ruling came in his favor since they are the one's having the possession of the plot. (P.S - Of course i am ignorant with regards to a lot of laws and sections in India, if i weren't, then i wouldn't need a lawyer or ask a question here to waste everybody's time. Nevertheless, thank you for your two cents though) Also its not my presumption as you would like to put it that the judge is corrupt, i am telling you that he is corrupt since these were the same words used by the MLA's himself. He said he has already paid him off a certain sum of money, so where is the questions of presumption? Also i have no intention of making any allegations against the judge as being a citizen of india, i have accept this as a part of parcel of our everyday life. My only fight is with those goons. Either they pay us a decent sum or let give us way to our own plot so we can cordon it, develop the road and sell it off to someone else or construct our own house/small project on it in the future. With regards to your question "act by you either during the proceedings in the court or at anytime before the institution of the case, whereby and where under you waived your complete or part of legal claim" ---- NO such act was ever done by us, so that is out of the question. Point to be noted is that they have not constructed anything on our plot. Rather they have just put a fencing on our plot with some signboard that trespassers will be prosecuted. So in this way, we are not allowed to go to our own plot. Another point is that i cannot file a police complaint until i have proof to tell the police about the threats we are receiving. As i said, we are receiving threats indirectly through our common connections and other people like us who have already agreed to give away their property to the MLA for a meagre sum under undue pressure. They are now requesting us to follow their path else face dire consequences from the goons. We cant really turn against the people who we know or are friends with. Still, that option might be exercised in the near future if pressure increases. In such a case, should i file a NC? The question still remains as to how much approx time would the litigation process take and what is the long term view of all you lawyers regarding my case? Should i really go ahead with this option? What are the chances of us loosing our property to them? or under what circumstances can we loose the case? @Devyajyoti sir - Sir you mentioned that my property value will decrease after litigation. Can anyone throw some light on the same? Does this mean that even after fighting the case for such a long time and incurring so much time and cost we still might not get the right price for our plot if we choose to sell it in the future? If this is the case, then what's the point of all this? M really worried, help out a brother guys... thanks!! :/
1) as mentioned earlier you have good case on merits . disposal of case may take between 10 to 15 years depending upon pendency of court cases .
2) you have regd sale deed in your favour property tax is raised in your father name . chances of loosing case are remote
3) you can loose the case if your lawyer dos not draft the suit to be filed properly . the evidence is not led that your father is bonafide purchaser of value of the land in question
4) once property is involved in litigation the value of property decreases as no one wants to buy a disputed property except at a discount . this is because suits take years to be disposed of and unscrupulous litigants like the MLA take full advantage of the delays in disposal of the cases
5) if you win the case you will get market value of the property
1. The only proof of corruption against the judge is the statement made by the MLA himself who said he has bribed the judge. The MLA might have, as is commonly done, to make you retreat from the legal process, stated that he has bribed the judge.In Jayalalitha's case somebody said the CJI has been paid thousand crores to grant her bail. So these gossip mongers, who do not care two hoots about the disrepute they bring to the judicial system through their false accusations, can be found in abundance. There is something known as documentary evidence, which we rely on. We do not rely on such sweeping statements which may be far away from the actual truth. Initially you stated that the court ruled in favour of your opponent in spite of him not having appeared in the court on a single date, whereas subsequently you have stated that the documents were given to the court by him to repel your claim. How on earth the documents were given unless the opponent or his lawyer appeared in the court? The documents cannot be given except in evidence.
It is not a sin to be ignorant of the law of the land. The problem with you people is that you are ignorant, and yet do not shy away from making assumptions (there are plenty in your post). So Mr.Litigant-in-Distress, while my legal jargons may be beyond your comprehension, the underlying message should not be. Be humble and not haughty if you want lawyers to help you. If you know something about the functioning of legal system, we certainly know more than you.
2. You have already lost out your property to them as according to your own statement the lower court has ruled against you. The fight can now be carried to the higher court which can reverse the verdict of the lower court. There is a heavy onus placed on you to show that the verdict of the lower court is wrong. When a higher court begins to reconsider the verdict of a lower court on a legal challenge, it begins with a presumption that it is sans the vice of a legal infirmity, and hence legally accurate. So you have a tough battle ahead. What will be the outcome, cannot be foretold by anyone.
3. You may choose to carry your battle to the Supreme Court if you desire, but the amount incurred thereon may be more than the market value of the property. You may eventually have to carry out a distress sale even if you win.
4. Nobody except your engaged lawyer can help you as without a threadbare perusal of the case documents it is impossible to ascertain what has actually happened, why it has happened and what is required to be done to cure it and to what extent it can be cured. He is the one who has to go and argue the case in the court, so bank on his legal acumen.
You have decided to fight it out then what makes you to ask so much questions here. The plenty of questions asked by you will actually deviate from the main stream and that will become a reason if you are losing the fight. In my opinion, instead of wasting time in asking several questions, most of which actually are meaningless and cannot enable the lawyers of this portal as nobody is aware of the actual situations and circumstances that you face practically.
You must decide the best options and further course of proper action based on the practical situation because any amount of suggestions given here either may misguide you or will not be able to convince you.
I dont bother about whatever be your rating to my answer because you seem not to understand anyone's reply nor your unable to assess your own self, so your assessment about others will have no value at all.
1. Sorry for the late reply. File a police complaint against against Mr.Dilp and all other goons for forcibly evicting you from your plot, threatening to kill your father and not allowing you entry to your plot,
2. Also file an application for restraining those goons to sell your property and blocking your entry to your plot,
3. If police fails to take any action, file a W.P. before the High Court against police action also making he political goons as private respondents,
4. Mr. ilip can not claim that his signature was obtained by coercison since he has not filed any police complaint so far,
5. Report the matter to Human Right commission since political goons are involved in the matter,
6. Contact the media to get adequate publicity of the illegal act of political people.
1. Fight it out tooth and nail. those goons are found to be actually very weak if you put resistance before their ill act. The notice of the Municipality will certainly go in your favour to prove that your father is the owner of the plot but there may be a conspiracy angle also. The Municipality may now cancel the allotment on the ground that you have not made any construction for which the plot was allotted as per the rule of the municipality. So, file a police complaint marking copy to the local S.P. and after that file an application u/s156(3) before the Court praying for direction upon the police to investigate and act based on your complaint and also to give you protection to approach your land for carrying out construction. Send copy of the petition to the Municipality,
2. Yes, file the police complaint as advised in my earlier post. end a letter by speed post under copy to local S.P.and after that file an application u/s 156(3) praying for direction upon he police to investigate and act based on your complaint. If you still do not get relief, file W.P. before the High Court as advised in my earlier post,
3.The property belongs to your father and some other person, for having political clout, dared to threaten you and take away your father's said property. This fact is adequate to fight it out irrespective of whether te BJP guy will back out or not. If you show your spirit and strength, the devils will certainly get scared,
4. Yes, consider going to Human Rights Commission and local Media to expose the ill acts of the politicians.
1. One sided judgments passed in lower Courts for whatsoever reason is very much prevalent,
2. However, you are more or less sure to get Justice in High Courts,
3. while filing police complaint, you do not have to submit evidence since you may not have the opportunity to have it,
4. Just filr the complaint by following the way advised in my earlier post,
5. You can tactfully take the name of the MLA and Mr. Dilip for threatening yoy leaving the neighbours which will give better effect to your complaint.