Court settles decades-long land dispute

A decades-old dispute over ownership of almost 275 acres of land in north Trinidad has been settled by the High Court.

On January 8, Justice Frank Seepersad upheld Rabindranath and Ramdath Maharaj's case against Zalimoon Khan and Randolph Hicks, the administrator of the estate of Anghelo Hicks.

In the lawsuit, the Maharajs sought to have a set of caveats on the land removed.

A caveat is a legal notice which records a person's interest in a property that is not otherwise reflected in the title of the land.

Khan claimed in July 1996, she and Anghelo entered into an agreement with the relatives to purchase a 49 per cent stake in the land for $250,000 in order for them to cut timber on it.

The Maharajs denied that there was a sale agreement but claimed that they had agreed to a lease arrangement.

Seepersad was called on to analyse a purported agreement between the parties allegedly signed at a branch of a popular fast food franchise in July 1996.

He noted that the two expert witnesses Dr Laurie Hoeltzel and Glenn Parmassar, who considered the document, proffered conflicting opinions on whether the Maharajs had signed it.

“The court, having looked at the questioned signatures and the exemplars, noticed that there appeared to be obvious and significant visual differences between them and ultimately preferred Dr Hoeltzel's opinion,” he said.

He also said there was no mention of the sale in the documents and also said he was not impressed with Khan’s evidence.

“She fostered in the court a feeling that her testimony was fabricated. Ultimately, the court also felt that her version of events lacked plausibility.”

In his ruling, he held the caveats on the land were lodged without reasonable cause.

“Based on the evidence, this court is of the view that the first defendant (Khan) could not have had an honest belief based on reasonable grounds that she had acquired any interest in the said parcels of land.”

While Justice Seepersad expunged the caveats, he only awarded the Maharajs $5,000 in compensation.

“The claimants have not pleaded any loss or damage arising from the existence of the caveats, and although it is possible that over the course of the last 20 to 25 years, there may have been prospective purchases for the said lands, no such evidence was adduced,” he said.

The Maharajs were represented by Anand Ramlogan, SC, Dr Che Dindial, and Vishaal Siewsaran while Khan was represented by Douglas Mendes, SC, and Bryan McCutcheon.