A High Court Judge has resolved a protracted legal dispute between two families over control of a large parcel of land in Balmain, Couva.
Delivering a judgment, late last month, Justice Avason Quinlan-Williams upheld a lawsuit brought by Vijai Mahadeo against Pooran, Jeremiah, and Ganga Roopchand and seven of their relatives including other siblings and their children.
The lawsuit centred around ownership of the land at Pine Village, Couva.
In the lawsuit, Mahadeo, through his lawyer Kingsley Walesby, claimed that he purchased the land from the Roopchands’ grandmother in 1979.
He claimed that he built a house on a portion of the land and cultivated the remainder.
He claimed that he and his relatives moved out of the house but continued to grow food crops on some of the land.
He claimed that he rebuilt the house on the land in 2008.
He filed the case as he claimed that the Roopchands encroached on parts of the property where they constructed several homes. He also claimed that they also destroyed crops that he and his family planted and damaged a gate he had erected.
Mahadeo died before the case went to trial and his son Vashisht was allowed to continue it on his behalf.
In defence of the case, the Roopchands claimed they inherited the land from their deceased father Roopchan Arjoon.
They claimed that Arjoon was gifted portions of the land by his mother, who Mahadeo had claimed sold it to him.
They contended that Arjoon lived and planted on the land since the 1950s.
In determining the case, Justice Quinlan-Williams ruled that Arjoon was not in possession of the contested land for decades as claimed by his relatives.
She took issue with the deed of conveyance relied on by the Roopchands, under which the executor of Arjoon’s estate sought to transfer the contested land to them.
“This deed purported to transfer more than what Roopchan Arjoon had and after his death, his estate was possessed,” she said.
She also found that the transfer was done despite there not being such a provision in Arjoon’s will.
In resolving the case, Justice Quinlan-Williams ordered the Registrar General to expunge the deed.
She also granted an injunction compelling the Roopchands to vacate the land and a permanent injunction preventing them from returning or interfering with the Mahadeos and their crops.
While the Mahadeos were seeking significant compensation for the purported damage to their crops during the course of the land dispute, Justice Quinlan-Williams only ordered $5,000 in nominal damages for trespass.
“The claimant did not adduce any evidence as to how they arrived at the figures or that these trees even existed,” she said.
She did order $31,500 in special damages, which represents the costs of replacing the automatic gate that was damaged during the dispute.
The two of the 10 members of the Roopchand family that chose to participate in the case were represented by Samuel Saunders.