KOCHI: A family in Kochi comprising eight siblings — eldest aged 78 and youngest 61 — is a happy lot after having won a hard-fought property dispute case that dates back to 1957. The legal victory gave them the right to own a property that originally belonged to their father, but was in possession of the state health department. The property would be worth at least `15 to 16 crore.
However, there’s one problem: A taluk hospital functions in the 27.5 cents of land the Kerala High Court upheld as the family’s property. Now three years after the High Court order, the Shenoy brothers — V Krishna, 78, Ramachandra, 72, and Ananda, 65 — have written to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan giving the government the right to purchase the property awarded to them, as per the Land Acquisition Act, so that the Thuravoor taluk hospital in Alappuzha situated in the property can function unhindered.
In its order, the High Court had stated the 27.5 cents be demarcated from the Thuravoor taluk hospital complex and handed over to the Shenoy siblings. As per the sketch prepared in the presence of a surveyor and advocate commissioner and submitted to the sub-court on June 10, 2022, half of the main building of the taluk hospital belonged to the Shenoy family.
Ananda Shenoy told TNIE that the market value of the property would be above `15 lakh/cent. Advocate T R S Kumar, who represented the Shenoy siblings, said the family is entitled to get four times the market value as per the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, as the property, which will be acquired by the government for a public purpose, is situated in a rural area. The amount would come to around `16.50 crore.
“This is a landmark judgment as the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, will be tested here,” said Kumar. He said the district collector and other officials concerned should expedite procedures to bring closure to the case, which has been going on for nearly seven decades.
The case began when the wife and children of Venkateswara Shenoy (father of the Shenoy siblings) filed a petition in the Cherthala Sub-court, claiming their share of the property located on the side of NH47 (now NH66) in Thuravoor village. According to the family members, their uncle had handed over their father’s share of the property to the health department when the latter was a minor.
“As per the settlement deed of partition dated January 8, 2003, the receivables from the property shall be equally shared by three male members who shall also bear the whole expenses," said Ananda Shenoy.