- Alnashir Chatur was left out of his father's will, which named his mother, two brothers and another person as executors
- Appeals court ruled he is entitled to an equal share of the estate
Image: COURTESY
A man left out of his father's will has been given a share of the multibillion-shilling estate.
The Court of Appeal in Mombasa ordered Alnashir Chatur included in the division of Chatur Popat's Sh4 billion estate.
The three-judge bench declared Alnashir an independent dependant of his father and therefore entitled to a share of the deceased's estate.
In 2013, tycoon Popat died at the age of 87, leaving behind a widow and three children.
Five years before his death (2008), Popat wrote a will and named his wife Gulzar Popat, sons Adil Chatur and Azim Chatur, and another person, Karim Saifuddin, as executors and trustees of his estate.
His third son Alnashir was left out of the will.
The executors applied for and received a letter authorising them to administer and manage the estate, from the High Court in Mombasa in 2014
However, Alnashir moved to court seeking to revoke the executors' powers and his inclusion in the division of the property.
The petition was opposed by the executors, who wanted the estate divided as per Popat's will.
Alnashir listed his mother, older brothers and Saifuddin as the respondents.
Alnashir, in his affidavit, told the High Court that he did not dispute his father’s will and acknowledged its validity.
The appellate judges said the letter Mugure relied on only proved that Alnashir was crying out for fatherly love and attention, and therefore the court should not have based its judgment on it.
He however said as a dependant of his father, he was entitled to a share of the property just like his mother, siblings and extended family members.
The executors, however, produced a letter in court that indicated father and son were not on good terms.
In the letter addressed to his father in 2009, Alnashir accused his parents of favouring his brother Adil, the second born.
He accused his father of not caring for him and denying him the fatherly love and guidance that he so desperately needed, but giving the same to Adil.
In a judgment dated September 2020, High Court judge Mugure Thande said it was evident that the relations between Alnashir and Popat were not cordial.
She said Alnashir had approached the court with a sense of entitlement to a share of the estate just because he was a son of the deceased.
The court held that the deceased’s wishes were clear in his will and it had no intentions of interfering with the decisions Popat made while healthy and of sound mind.
Alnashir moved to the Court of Appeal.
Last week, judges Wanjiru Karanja, Jessie Lesiit and Jamila Mohammed ruled that judge Mugure misdirected herself in making wrong decisions, which then amounted to injustices towards Alnashir.
The bench said the High Court judge erred in speculating on the reasons why Alnashir was left out of the Will.
The appellate judges said the letter Mugure relied on only proved that Alnashir was crying out for fatherly love and attention, and therefore the court should not have based its judgment on it.
They said despite the discrimination from his father, Alnashir continued to reach out to him, unlike his brother Azim who moved to Canada to get away from him.
The court ruled that Alnashir was entitled to an equal share of the estate and ordered the Family Court Division in Mombasa to ensure compliance with its directives.
Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya