News
– File photo
A High Court judge has ordered two sisters to vacate the family’s home in Cunupia by October 31 after the court ruled in favour of their uncle over a property dispute.
On May 3, Justice Westmin James ordered Mala Gupta and her sister Kaveeta Gupta to vacate the family home at Goordeen Lane off Chin Chin Road. The sisters are doubles vendors.
The court also ordered Kavita to remove her wooden structure from the compound.
The two defendants were also prohibited from denying the claimant, Jagdeo Lewis, and the beneficiaries entry into and upon the property.
The court also granted an injunction restraining the defendants from physically and/or verbally assaulting or harassing their uncle.
They were also debarred from erecting any structure upon the lands of the family home.
The court also debarred the sisters from interfering with the design layout of entrances and exits to the home.
Court documents showed that the claimant is the legal personal representative of the estate of his deceased mother, Sookiah Lewis.
The deceased had 11 children, each entitled to an equal or one-eleventh share in the family home.
The claimant and other relatives lived in the home. He eventually migrated in 2002 to the US.
According to the claimant’s case, the defendants’ mother (Lewis’ sister, Leela Guptar) died in February 2017.
He had given her permission to temporarily occupy the home and make minor adjustments.
The defendants contended that they were always occupying the home, and when their mother died, they continued living there.
Their uncle and his siblings were not, and as such, the two felt that were entitled to have the home.
The claimant and all his siblings have been denied entry and access to the family home since Guptar’s death.
Lewis brought the case to court to remove the defendants from the home.
The court heard evidence from Lewis and at least five siblings.
The defendants alone gave evidence.
The court found major inconsistencies in their case and that Lewis had, on a balance of probabilities, proven his case.
Attorney Taradath Singh represented Lewis, while attorney Kelvin Ramkissoon, instructed by Rajiv Sumair, represented the defendants.
