Nearly 67 years gone, three generations of not only the plaintiffs and defendants, but also lawyers, and expenditure of lakhs of rupees, and the case is still pending. In a clear example of travesty of justice, a civil suit in Akola court is pending over a dispute of a plot measuring 800 sq ft whose deal was inked for just Rs400 on August 22, 1949.The first case was filed by Dr Keshao Tunkikar, a dentist, on December 26, 1952, against Zabuji Ingle. Now the third generation of both families are fighting the legal battle which doesn’t show any signs of ending in the near future. After the deaths of the original applicant and defendant, Tunkikar’s wife Annapurnabai and Ingle’s second wife Sarubai continued the battle for a while. During pendency, both expired thus passing the baton to the next generation.After Annapurnabai’s death, their married daughter Shobha Nande took over the reins and is continuing till date. She however suffers from old age now and her lawyer-son Virendra is taking it ahead though he is officially not one of the petitioners. On the defendant’s side, after Sarubai’s death, her close relative Sharad Wankhede, who is also Ingle’s grandson, is taking the battle ahead in the court. Currently, he is residing in a small house constructed on the disputed property with his father and wife.The prolonged pendency of the case has taken a physical and mental toll on both sides. It has drained them financially as they had to spend lakhs of rupees for hiring lawyers. Interestingly, the third generation of both factions — Virendra and Sharad — were childhood friends but are at loggerheads now.TOI brought them together at the Akola District and Sessions court where they shared their plight. Both stay in the same locality and pursued law for knowing the nitty-gritties of the case that has become a prestige issue for their respective families. Currently, Virendra is continuing his practice while Sharad has joined the Janata Bank.“We knew each other since childhood, but this case separated us. Though I am staying on the property and should ideally be happy, it has broken me mentally and physically. I pursued law wanting to fight the case but had to join a bank to make a living,” says Sharad.Virendra too says the case has left him emotionally drained. “I had decided to pursue law after I grew up watching my grandparents and mother fighting the case. Now I can’t quit midway and leave it on my old mother. I have had several offers from law firms in Nagpur, Mumbai and Pune but had to refuse them,” he says.Both regretted losing their youth pursuing the case. “During childhood and youth days, we were attending the hearings with other family members, unlike other children,” they say.Even the applicant Shobha Nande ruined her married life as she was forced to stay in Akola despite being married in Indore. “Since Annapurnabai was illiterate, my mother has to complete formalities. After grandmother expired in 1983, she took it over. She even tried her hand in law by completing first two years of LLB after completing MA in English and Economics as well. She also fought an election as an independent candidate in 1995, but lost,” says Virendra, who completed his education in Akola instead of Indore where his father resides.Even the original applicant Tunkikar, who pursued his dentist degree from a college in Karachi before partition, also apparently suffered as his practice was affected due to the case.Since 1952, the case moved from the trial to appellate to high courts and came back with directives to Taluka (TILR) and District Inspector of Land Records (DILR) to measure the land as per original records of November 2, 1934. The last directive from the court came on August 1, 2011 to the DILR. Since then, the files have been moving from one table to another. No progress was made, thus making a complete mockery of the court’s orders, according to both, applicant and defendant.The case got further complicated after Sushila Sapre and Madhukar Telkar, relatives of Ingle who is the original defendant, also staked their claims on the property claiming to be his legal heirs.On the defendant’s side, a third generation lawyer — Ankit Mohota — is now representing them. Earlier, his grandfather GK Mohota had represented Ingle followed by uncle KG Mohota who pleaded for Sarubai.Nande’s lawyer Siddarth Tayade, who was appointed by the District Legal Aid Committee, said, he was associated with the case since nearly 15 years. “The entire fault is of land records department officials who failed to clearly demarcate the boundaries of both plots. If they had done their measurements properly at that time, the case wouldn’t have gone on for so long. Even now, they officials are reluctant to follow the court’s orders,” he says.Even the last order of trial court presided over by judge DM Deshmukh observed that plots claimed by both applicants and defendants are on their respective places and nobody is claiming possession of each other plots. “The only problem is of measurement. If the plots are properly and carefully measured, no injustice would be meted out to any of the parties,” he said.District collector Astik Kumar Pandey diverted TOI’s queries to DILR officer Vilas Shirolkar who told TOI that he wasn’t aware of the case as he had joined just four months back. “Today (January 11), I had a talk with collector via video conferencing regarding this case,” he said.All the stakeholders now want early justice. They don’t want the next generation to undergo any harassment.# All about Maharashtra’s oldest pending case:# Property in dispute:Area — 800ftLocation — Plot no 78-79, Mouza Tajnapur in AkolaOriginal owner — Ramdhan KhetanFirst purchaser — Uttam Purnaji PatilDate of purchase — December 16, 1942# Plot resold by Patil to Keshav TunkikarAgreement inked — August 22, 1950Cost of plot — Rs400# THE DISPUTE:* Zabuji Chanduji Ingle claimed Plot No 78 sold to Tunkikar belonged to him* He said Plot No 79 never existed & seller was selling part of Plot no 78 as 79* He claimed he purchased Plot No 78 from Khetan on May 10, 1948, for Rs90* When plot was not handed over, Tunkikar issued notice to Ingle on February 4, 1950* He filed a case in Akola Civil Court on December 26, 1952 for getting land possession* Alternatively, he demanded refunding Rs400 + Rs 100 compensation with 1% interest# WHAT HAPPENED IN COURTS ALL THESE YEARS:* First verdict came in Tunkikar family’s favour — February 20, 1955* It was challenged in first appeal in appellate court which overturned verdict* Court directed Zabuji Ingle to refund of Rs400 to plaintiff given for land* Verdict challenged in HC, which again ruled in Tunkikar’s favour on August 26, 1951* HC remanded back dispute to appellate court for re-measurement of disputed land* Appellate court again remanded back case to trial court on December 11, 1961* Trial court accepted commissioner’s report, ordered possession to Tunkikar on June 23, 1969* Second appeal filed in HC that again remanded back case to trial court for rehearing* Judge MH Shaikh at trial court again ruled in Tunkikar heir’s favour on January 31, 2011* Defendant Ingle’s legal heir Sharad Wankhede challenged it in appellate court in 2011* Allowing his appeal, Judge DM Deshmukh quashed January 31, 2011, order of judge Shaikh* On August 1, 2011, he remanded case to trial court under original registered number of civil suit* Trial court directed to appoint DILR as court commissioner for measurement of Plots 76-79* DILR directed to carry our new measurement by taking base layout of November 2, 1934* Also told to exactly locate plots No 76, 77, 78 & 79, to resolve dispute in area* Trial court further directed to accord top priority to case, as it was pending since years* Since then, case was pending for 7 years as DILR failed to conduct measurement till date# Three generations of plaintiff, defendant & lawyers* Plaintiff —Original applicant — Keshao Tunkikar (Dead)2nd applicant — his wife Annapurnabai (Dead)3rd applicant — Their daughter Shobha Nande (with her son Virendra)* Defendants:Original — Uttamrao Patil & Zabuji Ingle (Both dead)2nd applicant — Sarubai, 2nd wife of Ingle (Dead)3rd applicant — Sharad Wankhede (Ingle’s grandson)* Lawyers:For Plaintiff’ — Siddhartha Tayade (from legal Aid Cell) with Virendra, son of present applicantFor defendants — GK Mohota, his son KG Mohota and now his grandson Ankit

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