When the Gujarat government decided to build a municipal market in Vadodara in the early 1980s, it acquired land from a man we will call Mr X, who said he was paid nothing. His family does not want him identified because the case isas they say in legal parlancesub-judice.
This is the way it has been for 32 years.
Mr X died five years ago. His heirs are now fighting the case. In more than three decades, there was been 200 hearings in Vadodaras civil court.
Five lawyers have represented us over three decades, said one of Mr Xs heirs, requesting anonymity, like the rest of the family. We still hope that the verdict will be in our favour and that we will get back our money soon.
Mr Xs family has spent up to Rs 8 lakh on the case. It could be more. Two generations have passed, his heir said. Its impossible to keep track of the expenses.
The family has aged, savings have been eaten into, and public money has been wasted, said the familys lawyer, who also requested anonymity. There is nothing to show for the last 32 years.
As for the municipal market for which Mr Xs land was acquired, it was never built.
The great legal logjam in Indias lower courts
The first part of this series described how 25 million cases were pending in Indias district and sessions courts. Of these, two million have been on trial for a decade or more, according to Law Ministry data.
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