Westlands eviction: Couple seeks at least Sh560 million compensation
Mr Niraj Shah and his wife Avani Shah on November 8, 2022, walk on what remains of their home on School Lane in Westlands after a gang evicted them and demolished their house.
A couple whose Westlands home was demolished in November last year wants a title deed held by a company claiming to own the property cancelled, claiming the document was fraudulently obtained.
Niraj Shah and his wife Avani claim in an application to the Land and Environment Court that the title deed issued to Lariak Properties Ltd on July 1, 2010 is illegal.
The couple were evicted from their property on School Lane in the Westlands area on 4 November last year and the house was demolished.
Zachary Baraza, an auctioneer, said the owner of the property obtained a court order from a Nairobi court on October 18, 2022 to evict the couple.
Baraza later found himself in trouble over the eviction, but has since obtained court orders restraining the court from punishing him for alleged contempt of court.
Shah says in the application that the property belonged to his late father - Batuk Shah - after he bought it from Phyllis Mcekan on or about October 1976.
"An order in the nature of a mandatory injunction compelling the 3rd defendant (Chief Land Registrar) to cancel or revoke the 1st defendant's (Lariak Properties) title issued on July 1, 201 in respect of property known as L.R.No.1870/111/46 situated at School Lane, Westlands," Mr Shah said in the application.
Apart from the cancellation, Mr Shah is also seeking an order from the court compelling the registrar to issue him with a new lease for the property.
He claims that after acquiring the property in 1976, his father mortgaged it to a bank for a loan of Sh180,000.
When the lease expired, Mr Shah allegedly applied for a 50-year extension in 1998, which was granted.
Mr Shah claims that all was well for them until 4 November last year, when thugs descended on the property, forcibly evicted them and demolished the house.
Mr Shah claims that their furniture, furnishings and jewellery were stolen during the eviction.
The auctioneer, however, says he acted on a court order to carry out the eviction.
He says the company colluded with the land registrar to alter the land register. The couple claim the property was valued at Sh535 million and that they would have to pay Sh450,000 per month in rent from December 2022.
The couple is seeking special damages of more than Sh560 million for the illegal eviction and losses suffered.
