Chennai: Film producer Boney Kapoor has moved the Madras High Court, alleging that three individuals have been unlawfully claiming rights over an immovable property purchased by his late wife, veteran actor A. Sridevi, on East Coast Road (ECR) in Chennai in 1988.

Justice N. Anand Venkatesh, on Monday, directed the Tambaram Taluk Tahsildar to decide within four weeks on Kapoor’s representation seeking cancellation of a “fraudulent” legal heirship certificate issued in 2005 in favour of the trio.

Kapoor had filed a writ petition urging the Chengalpattu Collector and the Tambaram Taluk Tahsildar to act on his April 22, 2025, representation for cancelling the certificate, which he claims is being misused to create disputes.

In his submission, Kapoor explained that Sridevi purchased the ECR property on April 19, 1988, based on a family partition agreement made in 1960 by the heirs of the original landowner, M.C. Sambanda Mudaliar. Since then, he said, the family had been in “absolute possession and enjoyment” of the property, now being used as a farmhouse.

However, three individuals suddenly surfaced, contending that they too had a share in the land, claiming to be the second wife and two children of one of Mudaliar’s sons. They relied on a legal heirship certificate issued by the Tambaram Tahsildar.

Kapoor questioned the jurisdiction of the Tahsildar, pointing out that Mudaliar’s family had always resided in Mylapore, not Tambaram. He further argued that the claim of a second marriage allegedly performed in 1975 was invalid, since the first wife of the man concerned died only in 1999. “Therefore, the trio cannot be recognised as Class-I or Class-II heirs under the Hindu Succession Act,” Kapoor asserted.

Complaining that the claimants had been causing harassment by filing multiple suits and petitions, Kapoor urged the authorities to cancel the “fraudulent” certificate to prevent further misuse.