MUMBAI: A case dating back to the year India gained independence was finally decided by the Bombay High Court this month, with the fourth generation of the original landowner settling a property dispute amicably.
The estate included large parts of Dahisar village in north Mumbai. The area was 2,891 acres or more than 1,100 hectares. It was 3.5 times the size of Central Park in New York.Over the decades, the legal battle has seen repeated appeals against the sale of plots of land in Dahisar to private parties, as well as their acquisition by the state under the Salsette Act and the Forest Act.Justice Farhan Dobas, one of the Supreme Court’s newest justices, calmed the legal conflict through a consent order after 78 years, or more than three-quarters of a century, in a suit filed on October 7, 1947.The original lawsuit sought to administer the estate of Hajj Ali Muhammad Hajj Qassoum after his death, in accordance with applicable personal status laws. It was filed by Badroshama, the widow of Suleiman Haji Ali Muhammad Haji Qasoum, against Salim Dawoud Agboatwala and others.Justice Dubash began his order as follows: “This order disposes of probably the oldest suit currently pending before the Bombay High Court.”Over the years, several orders were issued in this regard, including an initial decree issued on November 25, 1952 specifying the legal share of all heirs.
Before that, the Supreme Property Council appointed a receiver in 1950 to look after the property. Successive generations continued the legal battle before the Supreme Court. Finally, as the litigation entered the fourth generation, all the heirs decided to settle amicably. They submitted the approval terms before the HC on February 5. The conditions were accepted, and the case was removed from the pending list to the disposed of.This ruling brought to an end one of the longest pending cases in the history of Bombay HC.The HC recorded the agreement reached between the parties after hearing Kavik Setalvad, senior counsel with advocate Vijaylaxmi Kulkarni representing the plaintiffs, and Anupam Surf, counsel with advocate Nanu Hormozji & Co. to contest the heirs.The settlement was made between Atiq Anwar Agboatwala, the power of attorney holder of the first plaintiff, and other members of the Agboatwala family.At the end of the settlement, the amount payable to the receiver for costs and fees in the matter was Rs 7 lakh. After deducting this amount, the remainder of the undisclosed amount will be returned on or before February 20, 2026 to the family.