Court dismisses man’s plea for right in father’s business

In October 1998,Basant Chopra had filed a civil suit against father R L Chopra.

The father-son duo worked at a shop in Rajinder Nagar Market,it said. They lived in a house inherited from Basant’s grandfather. But after some differences,the father put a lock on the shop and issued a public notice in newspapers severing all relations with Basant.

As per Basant’s suit,R L Chopra had also filed a complaint with the police and Basant was compelled to hand over the possession of a car that he had bought.

He had requested the court to declare that he was also an owner of the property and the business. He demanded his car back and asked for compensation for being wrongfully deprived of his rights.

Countering the contentions,Chopra senior told the court that his father had bequeathed everything to him through a will and hence there was no question of Basant having the right of inheritance.

Moreover,though Basant resided with him and drove the car — his position was that of a licensee,who could be allowed to continue only as long as the owner wished. Calling his son a “mischief monger”,he said,Basant would often badmouth his parents over property disputes even though he was given Rs 10 lakh out of affection after the business was shut down.

Dismissing the suit,the judge said: “It is a strange case where the son has sued his father and is claiming his joint family rights though the allegations are that he has been giving a beating to his mother.”

Observing that Basant could bring nothing on record to establish that the property was ancestral,the judge held: “Merely because the plaintiff was working with the defendant will not give him the right of ownership.”