CASE/DISPUTE OVERVIEW
Firstly, here is some background information. Note this property belonged to my mothers parents and not from my father parents.
1) My Grandfather (my mother’s dad) had 4 Son and 6 daughters he owned 54 Acres of agricultural land (bought that land using his self earned money). As a part of family division among his sons, he divided the land equally between his 4 sons (13.5 acres each) and gave none to his 6 daughters in 1967 according to which the land ownership was transferred to each sons name/title respectively.
After 4 yrs the youngest son who was unmarried died (i.e. 1971) and as he didn’t have any legal heir, the land was about to be transferred back to my grandfather and grandmother's name, during which my Grandfather gave a written statement to the talathi to transfer the land to my grandmothers name only, based on which only grandmother’s name was applied to that land.
Since, then my grandmother became the legal owner of that land from 1971 till she died in 1996. Point to note is that no one challenged her for title or ownership during that period.
2) Before Grandmother died she made a registered will in 1982 which she did not change till she died in 1996. According to the will she allocated 2 acres to each daughter and 1.5 acres additional to daughter No4 (my mother) (i.e. 2 x 6 = 12 + 1.5 =13.5Acre).
3) In 1989 my mother constructed a house in the 1.5 acre plot and started living there and everyone agreed to it.
My Grandmother decided to sell the land and sold 12 acres of the land (in 1992) leaving the 1.5 acre for my mother. She took consent from each daughter and gave them the money for their share and each of them bought land near where they lived, but because of tax reason that was kept on grandmothers name and recently they have sold them… god knows how (Unfortunately, have no consenting documentation to prove this but can have bank transaction records for it).
During this time one of the sister husband (being an advocate) was asked by my grandmother to prepare a sale agreement so that 1.5 acre of land could be transferred to my mother’s name. He tricked my mother and grandmother by doing the agreement for 0.5 acres only.
My mother was under the impression that the agreement was for 1.5 acres and only realised that it was 0.5 acres after grandmother died and I pointed this to her on looking at the document's.
4) After grandmother died in 1996 we went and applied to the talathi to remove grandmother’s name and add my mother’s name on the land as per the will. This was contested by 2 of my mother’s sister stating that they wanted a share in the 1.0 acres of land which was meant to be my mother’s (daughter no4).
After 2yrs of contesting session in front of the Circle we won the right to add her name to the 7/12.
The sisters’ then applied in the district court (2nd Additional Judge) in 1999 and challenged the will.
This is an ongoing matter and they have been taking dates after dates for some reason or the other.
5) Currently, my mother and father live in the house and carry out agriculture activity in the 1.5 acre of land. In short we hold the possession and title (on 7/12) since 1996.
I need help with the following list of question which I need some clarification around.
1. As per Hindu law what my grandfather did to transfer land from the (dead) son to grandmother by giving a written statement. Can this be contested in any court even though the ownership of land after the transfer was held for more than 24 years?
2. How does the will take effect now as my grandmother had sold part of the land before she died but did not make any other will for that property.
3. Do I need to apply for a probate as none of the executors are alive?
4. What are the different options I have to proceed with this matter in order to get a clear title to the property?
5. Please can you list the documents which I need to gather in order to resolve this matter as swiftly as possible?
6. Can a register Will be challenged by any of the heir?
7. Is there a law which gives the legal ownership if lived and possessed a property after 10-15 years?
