The Bombay high court on Tuesday asked a petitioner to explain the delay in filing the PIL seeking an investigation into the sale of property in Malabar Hill on which Antilia is built.
The Bombay high court on Tuesday asked a petitioner to explain the delay in filing the PIL seeking an investigation into the sale of property in Malabar Hill on which Antilia is built. The petitioner had alleged corruption and illegalities in the said deal.
Senior counsel Iqbal Chagla on behalf of Mukesh Ambani-owned Antilia Commercial Pvt Ltd had requested the court to dismiss the petition as it is filed at a very delayed stage.
On the other hand, advocate Khan Javed Akhtar on behalf of petitioner Shadaab Patel, argued that there was no delay as the judicial commission filed its report in 2010 and the chief minister of Maharashtra in 2015 had assured appropriate action in this regard, but as there was no action till date the PIL was filed.
The division bench headed by Justice V.M. Kanade however, asked the petitioner to file a reply within two weeks and explain the delay on affidavit.
The PIL had alleged that the land belonging to Currimbhoy Ebrahimbhoy Khoja Orphanage was allegedly sold to Antilia for a meagre '21 crore, which was less then 10 per cent of the actual price of that land. The petitioner has claimed that the land was valued at '200 crore.
According to the petitioner, the said Trust came into existence in 1996 for the sole purpose of providing shelter, food and education to orphans and destitute boys of the Khoja community.
According to the petitioner, the Wakf Board took objection on this sale deed in 2003 and said that transfer of property was bad in law because it was transferred without the permission of Wakf Board. However, in 2004, the suit filed by Wakf Board was settled for just '16 lakh.
The petitioner has sought a direction from the court for formation of a SIT (special investigating team), or to hand over the matter to CBI or appoint a judicial commission to investigate the alleged corruption.
