Actor Trisha Krishnan settles dispute out of court; Madras HC orders refund of court fee

A file photo of actor Trisha Krishnan in Chennai.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Actor Trisha Krishnan has entered into a compromise with her neighbour regarding a dispute over possible structural damage to her property and therefore, the Madras High Court has ordered refund of the court fee paid by her while filing a civil suit early this year.

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Justice RMT Teekaa Raman disposed of the matter after recording a joint compromise memo signed by Ms. Krishnan and her neighbours Mr. Meyappan and the latter’s wife Ms. Kaveri as well as their counsel. He directed the High Court Registry to refund the court fees as per rules.

The actor had filed the suit in January this year seeking a permanent injunction restraining her neighbours, at Cenotaph Road Second Lane in Chennai, from carrying out any further demolition or construction on the eastern wall thereby affecting the structural stability of her property.

When her interim injunction application was listed before Justice N. Sathish Kumar on January 24, the judge took note that there was a common wall between the actor’s house and her neighbour’s house and both the buildings had been constructed by the former owners of the properties.

While the actor had purchased her property in 2005, her neighbours had bought their property in 2023 and began demolishing their building to re-develop the property. The common wall posed a challenge because there was every likelihood of damage to the plaintiff’s property, he said.

“Considering the nature of the housing property more fully described in the schedule to the application where two units are built on an area which was developed by the predecessors in title and the pipes leading to the over head tank and drainage system are housed by the common wall and the common wall is support of both the units, this court is of the view that if the common wall is demolished or damaged without taking adequate steps and safety measures to prevent any likelihood of damage to the suit property, the same will lead to serious consequences like falling of structure,” the judge wrote.

He also granted the interim injunction after observing: “This court is of the view that the applicant has established that there is a prima facie case for the grant of ad interim injunction and if the respondents are not restrained by way of interim injunction, there is likelihood of causing peripheral injury to the applicant. The balance of convenience is also in favour of the applicant.”

Thereafter, the interim injunction was extended from time to time. Meanwhile, the actor’s mother and her neighbour appeared before the High Court on March 21, 2024 and efforts were taken for an out of court settlement. The efforts fructified and the dispute was settled amicably.