Hello,
I am looking for a lawyer to represent us in a property dispute case. The basic details of the case are as follows:
My grandfather was allotted land in New Delhi by the government. He was required to pay the cost of the land, as per the government's requirements but after just a few payments, he passed away. My father had 8-other brothers and sisters and no one other than my father wanted to pay for that land. So, all other siblings created a no-objection and relinquishment of rights document for the property and my father decided to pay for it all by myself.
A few years later, his brother needed a place to live with his wife and young son, so my father allowed him to live (temporarily) on my first floor. When my father asked him to leave a few years later, the brother refused and we've been fighting a case since. This was almost thirty years ago!
The lease deed of the property is in my father's name and three cases were filed:
#1. The brother had to prove he was the owner
#2. We asked the court for permission to evict him
#3. We asked for financial damages
Now, case #1, the brother has lost. He was unable to prove that he is the owner of the property. He appealed the decision and the appeal was dismissed as well. The judgement stated that the brother had failed to prove that he was the owner of the first floor of my house and so, my father had complete right over the first floor - but could not evict him until the results of case #2 came out.
Case #2 and #3 were combined - later - to make one single case (referred to as case #2 hereafter)
In Case #2, the decision came almost 5-years after case #1, and it went against the decision of case #1. The judge decided that we could not evict the brother as he was the owner - a direct contradiction of case #1.
Now, we have had some bad lawyers. After the Case #2 judgement came, we had thirty days to file the appeal - the lawyer filed it over 60-days later. My father is an old and naive man who is taken for a ride by his lawyers. He has to go to court and do all the documentation because the lawyers he is paying don't do it.
Now, the brother is not an honest man. He has been holding a public post for 30-years, at a local association, and is a small time politician's supporter. He is active in some campaigning and as a result, has some pull. He also has a lot of money and I have absolutely no doubt that he would have used some of it to influence some decisions.
For example: Case #2's judgement was released on December 20th (year not important). However, the judgement was provided in a written form only on January 17th - three days before the 30-day deadline would have ended. Now I know that the deadline for appeal is 30-days from the date of receipt of the judgment, but that is where our lawyer failed to submit it and I have no doubts that our lawyer was also "influenced" to do so.
Now, the court is refusing to accept our appeal to the judgement of case #2 and we have to go to high court to file an appeal and ask the lower court to accept our original appeal to case #2.
What I need is a lawyer who is well versed to handle a case like this. I need results - I don't like sloppy work and unfortunately, because my father has been in charge, the quality of work has been poor. For example, when the judgment for case #2 came out, the lawyer was not prepared with an application for the judgement or an appeal BEFOREHAND. That shows he is a bad lawyer for me - there are only two possible outcomes - the decision will be in my favour or theirs, and if it is in their favour, then all steps have to be taken immediately!
I am not my father who has allowed this case to flow as required and I want a lawyer who is proactive, not in words but in action. Can anybody here help me out?
Thanks to everyone who replies in advance!
