SC ends 36-year agony in 6 minutes

Thirty-six years after his father filed a case to get his ancestral property vacated, Dilip Kale won back its possession on Wednesday in six minutes, thanks to the Supreme Court.

A case of quick justice on Wednesday left a Mumbai man speechless.

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Thirty-six years after his father filed a case to get his ancestral property vacated, Dilip Kale won back its possession on Wednesday in six minutes, thanks to the Supreme Court.

As a bench of Justice Markandeya Katju and Justice TS Thakur ordered his tenant to vacate the 550sqft premises in Dadar within six months, a stunned Kale struggled with the fact that he had won the case his family had been fighting for two generations.

The Bombay High Court had ruled in favour of his tenant — an under-secretary to the Maharashtra government — and the Supreme Court had admitted his appeal against a high court verdict in 2006 for hearing.

Kale did not expect the case to be decided on his first day in the Supreme Court. “I was shocked as the judgment came in our favour within minutes. The court was fully aware of the case and took hardly any time to decide it,” he told HT.

“I had come here with the hope to end the over-three-decade-old litigation. And it actually happened,” a beaming Kale said in disbelief.

The Supreme Court castigated Thakur for sub-letting the rented premises for 11 years while staying in official accommodation.

“Like a gentleman and a decent person, he (Thakur) should have handed over the possession of the rented premises to the landlord. However, he continued with the possession through his sister-in-law. This is most improper behaviour on the part of a government servant,” the bench said.