90-year-old refuses to settle defamation case, Bombay HC adjourns it to 2046

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Tuesday adjourned to 2046 a defamation suit for Rs 20 crore against managing committee members of a south Mumbai housing society by a senior citizen, now aged almost 90, and her daughter. "I do not wish to state anything further except that this matter should not be taken up for the next 20 years," said Justice Jitendra Jain, sitting singly, when an attempt at a settlement failed and she insisted on pursuing the suit.The dispute allegedly arose about a decade ago.On April 20, the HC requested both sides to try and settle, saying the matter could be worked out with defendants giving an unconditional apology. On Tuesday, when the matter came up as scheduled, the erstwhile committee members, represented by ALMT Legal, said they would unconditionally apologise without prejudice.However, the woman, almost 90, still insisted on going ahead with the legal battle, the HC order, a one-pager, observed on Tuesday."This is one of the matters where the ego fight between the parties at their fag end of their life clogs the system, which prevents the court from taking up the matters which really requires more priority," the high court said.The dispute was over alleged collection of funds towards repair and maintenance of the society. In the minutes of a meetings, she was referred to as a "defaulter," which led to the filing of the defamation suit.On Wednesday, Justice Jain deleted and recalled its order of April 28 of placing the matter next for hearing in 2046 and adjourned it to July 15. Advocate Swaraj Jadhav for the 90-year-old woman mentioned the matter seeking modification. Justice Jain said, "Delete lines 4 and 5 of paragraph 2 of order dated 28 April 2026 and replace para 3 with "List this matter on 15 July 2026 for further consideration.''The deleted lines were: "I do not wish to state anything further except this matter should not be taken up for next 20 years.'' And the para 3 that stands replaced had said: "list this matter after 2046. At any cost, this matter should not be given priority on th ground that the petitioners are senior citizens or super senior citizens. It is expressly made clear that this matter will not be taken up for hearing before 2046.'' These lines and this para now stand deleted.(The copy has been updated)