Nepalmountainnews Report | 8 Jul 2008
Continuously for the last 30 years she endured much administrative and legal hassles but didn't give up her enthusiasm to fight the case that sometimes remained elusive to her. And at last, a 91 year-old elderly women on Monday finally got the justice.
Santa Maya Manandhar(see photo), a frail looking granny with grey hair and power glasses, is beaming with joy after the Supreme Court (SC) finally issued its verdict on the long-running dispute regarding the original caretaker of the Gaur located Laxmi Narayan Temple in Rautahat district in her favor, reported a vernacular daily Kantipur.
"I feel that I have won back my life," she said to the daily after coming out of the courtroom, wiping the tears of joy trickling down from her cheeks, "even though late, the court has given me justice. I only pray that I don't have to face any more hassles."
A joint bench of Chief Justice (CJ) Kedar Prasad Giri and Judge Ram Kumar Prasad Saha had found the granny to be the original caretaker of the temple and issued the verdict in her favor.
Fighting her legal battle first in land revenue department and later in courtrooms from the year 1975, Manadhar had come to the capital city three weeks ago for a final hearing in the case.
Before her case landed in the court, she had won dozens of cases regarding the ownership of the temple in land reform and land revenue department.
"I had to fight legal cases for my whole life. But only now there is finally peace in my heart," the daily quoted her as saying.
She said that she would continue to personally look after the temple and renovate it till she lives. But she still fears lawyers who had tormented her during much of her old age.
As the person against whom she had fought the legal battle for the last three decades died last year and no one from his family came up to fight the case after that (which probably made it easy for the SC to decide the case in her favor), there is no contender in the case.
However, she says that there are still few lawyers who are hell-bent on not allowing her to live in peace, as they have threatened that they would to drag her into the court again by filing cases against her.
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