Businessman Suresh Nanalal Kantaria wants court to reverse auction of his three properties valued at Sh242 million to cater for the upkeep arrears of his estranged wife.
According to court papers, the properties were sold on January 21 by auctioneers at Sh201 million to settle a longstanding spousal maintenance debt of unspecified amount owed to his former wife Mradula Suresh Kantaria.
The businessman says that following the auction of his investments, he has been reduced to a pauper living in a rented apartment.
The three land parcels, situated at United Nations Crescent Gigiri and South C Nairobi, were sold through public auction on the strength of a court ruling dated September 16, 2022 and an order dated November 5, 2024.
The family division of High Court also declined to halt the execution of the ruling, paving way for the sale.
“The applicant has not been lucky in his endeavour to have his appeal heard and as a result, the three properties were sold illegally on January 21, 2025. He has been reduced to a pauper and his right to life under Article 26 of the Constitution has been contravened,” says Mr Suresh in the court papers.
“The respondents have sentenced me to a slow death by taking away from me my lifetime investments, At my age I cannot acquire other investments,” Mr Suresh adds in his request for setting aside of the auction.
Claiming that the auction was illegal and fraudulent, Mr Suresh further wants the persons who purchased the properties restrained from taking possession. He says the sale took place during the pendency of three appeals.
He blames the Judiciary for his woes and says that he has lodged a complaint at the Judicial Service Commission against two judicial officers of the High Court Family Division.
“The sales took place because judges of the family division have declined to hear my appeal dated December 18, 2022 against the decision of the Deputy Registrar, who chose to allow sales of immovable properties which my former wife had not asked for,” he states.
“The petitioner is a victim of the slowness of the wheels of justice as they concern his three memorandum of appeals”.
Following annulment of the couple’s marriage on February 18, 1999, the High Court later directed Mr Suresh to pay his former wife and daughter Sh100 million for maintenance but the businessman appealed against the decision and a bench of three judges reduced the amount to Sh350,000 per month in a judgement issued in 2015.
The court also directed the properties be sold. Ms Mradula successfully argued for the property to be attached and sold to recover the arrears, arguing that she has not been paid the upkeep for the last nine years.
Mr Suresh wants his application certified urgent and the petition referred to the Chief Justice for empanelment of the bench to three judges. He also wants the case transferred from the Family Division Court.
