One more suit has been filed against Godrej Properties over the Rs227 crore realty deal last year for a 58 acre land parcel near Besa area of the city.
After a case was filed citing provisions of Muslim personal law, the second suit challenges the deal on the basis of Mental Health Act, which safeguards interests of mentally challenged persons. It says one of the original owners of the land is a person of unsound mind and his share was sold without following the legal process. The case has been filed in the civil court and next hearing is on October 25.
The land was first owned by late Abdul Wahab’s family, whose widow — Khairunisa sold 58 acre land to one Agrawal family from the city in 1988. The Agrawals finally sold the land last year to Godrej. Now, the deal between Abduls and Agrawals is being challenged by the formers’ family members.
Notices have been issued to respondents, said Masood Sharif, counsel for plaintiffs. After Wahab’s death, property was partitioned between his wife Khairunisa and eight children. Khairunisa sold her share & that of her children to Agrawals, he says. According to the petition, one of Wahab’s children — Abdul Jabbar — is a person on unsound mind. Yet even his share was sold away without appointing a legal guardian.
There is already a case in the lower court citing Muslim personal laws that a mother cannot be a legal guardian of the children after fathers’ death. The high court has put a stay on the suit at present.
Sharif told that Jabbar was a person of unsound mind for which credentials have been put up before the court. As per the relevant provisions, an individual can take charge as a legal guardian of such a person in matters related to property only through the court. Khairunisa, who acted as the legal guardian and sold the land to Agrawals, did not have the court’s permission then.
The suit has now been filed by Munnawara begum, wife of one of Jabbar’s brothers. She assumed charge as Jabbar’s legal guardian through the court and has filed the suit on his behalf. The very partition deed and the sale of 1988 has been challenged on the grounds that Jabbar was person of unsound mind and his share was sold without appointing a legal guardian by following the due process, he said.
Last week, Godrej Properties struck a land deal of over Rs 350 crore, finalized between the company and Rohit Agrawal, a businessman from Nagpur, for a 109-acre land.
The pocket is located between Mihan-SEZ and Samruddhi Expressway.
