Your Advocate

Q: My mother purchased few land property in her paternal village during her lifetime. She died in 1997. My maternal cousin was entrusted with to administer the financial aspects of the landed property owned by my mother. As we born and brought up in different districts as a result our hometown is quite unknown to us. Also our grandpa's village so as to land property owned by my mother. My mother kept all the Papers and documents of her owned landed property to my cousin. Since. After my mother's death my consign still enjoying the financial benefits of that land. When we asked about the money to pay us, he used say different people's name, such as 'your elder brother has taken this year, or he quoted my father's name that he has taken the money. Since we lived vatic different places from each other (my sisters, brother and father) so it was difficult to testify his statement. Later we discovered that he did not give the money to any body. We asked him to hand over the documents pertaining my mother's land property, he denied to having those with him. Even he cultivates the land by other people and taking the benefit out of that land. But not paying us moreover, he does not help as to meet the cultivators who takes the land on lease. Moreover, he does not also cooperates to take us to the Tahsilder's office, so that we can claim our mother's land property. His attitude appears that he is desperate to grab my mother's property. Please advice the legal steps and procedures we should take at this stage. It is mentionable our father is no more in this world.

M.A. Shafiq,
Mohammadpur, Dhaka.

Your Advocate: Your problem is very common and simple so far law is concerned. But vindication of rights in our reality is not always encouraging. Still you can not, none really can, give a go-by to such an apparent and intentional hide and seek resorted to by a near relative affecting the lawful right and title to any property. Your case is not only a general case of human temptation to grab others property but also an indicator of fast-declining trend of traditional values, mutual respect and trust even among the kith and kin. Deception in our society has become fashionable and sometimes a virtue.
Be that as it may, you will have to enter upon an embarrassing legal battle against your own cousin should necessity arise. It does not appear from your words that the chance of amicable settlement has totally faded away. Please try your best to settle things between yourselves with the help of the distinguished people of the locality so that the otherwise valued relationship with your cousin virtually subsists. If it does not work out and you are left with no other choice but to initiate legal action in that case you will have to collect the certified copy of the deed of your mother from the Registry Office as the original is in the hands of you rival. The certified copy will give you the description and identity of the land and taking cue from the same you will have to track down the subsequent development, that is likely to be made by your cousin in terms of creation of new deeds, mutation, payment of rent and recording the land in anybody else's name. All these documents and information will be necessary to initiate the legal action for the redress you want.
If the attendant circumstances finally drag you towards litigation your lawyer will determine the line of action upon a practical examination of the kind of facts and materials that may emerge. As for me, I can at best say at the moment that in the peculiar backdrop of your case a suit for ejectment or as the case may be a suit for declaration of title and recovery of possession would be appropriate.