Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has refused interim protection to the legal heirs of late businessman Salim K Shaikh in a long-running dispute over a Goregaon land parcel, even as it sharply criticised investigative agencies for failing to act on what appear to be serious document fabrication and stamp-duty violations.
Justice Jitendra Jain passed the order on November 3; the detailed copy was uploaded late Monday. The plaintiffs, Asiya and Asad Salim Shaikh, claim rights over the land as legal representatives of the now dissolved partnership firm M/s Shaikh Constructions. They sought to restrain Romell Housing LLP and its group entities from disturbing their alleged possession and sought continuation of the Court Receiver.
Three connected interim applications were heard together. Senior advocate Predeep Sancheti argued that the Shaikhs had acquired title by adverse possession, having carried out quarrying operations since the 1970s. He relied on a December 18, 1975 agreement under which KN Shaikh is said to have taken the land on rent from one John Pereia for Rs25,000 and monthly rent of Rs300. Sancheti alleged that Romell relied on “forged and fabricated” documents to show ownership – particularly two “entirely different” versions of a registered Power of Attorney (PoA) dated May 19, 2010.
He said both bore the same registration number yet carried different signatures, clauses, fonts and witnesses, something “prima facie impossible” if genuine. He also questioned why these PoAs did not feature in a 2017 agreement and disputed Romell’s claim that the Shaikhs were paid Rs35 lakh in 2016, citing contradictions in the defendants’ TDS certificates. Despite a complaint by the Shaikhs, he said, the CBI had not acted on the alleged forgeries. Senior advocate Aspi Chinoy, for Romell, countered that the Shaikhs had not pleaded the basic elements required to claim adverse possession.
At best, he said, KN Shaikh was a tenant who never surrendered possession, but “mere continued possession” cannot ripen into title. He argued that the suit itself disclosed no cause of action. Earlier, the court had asked government pleader Himanshu Takke to verify with the Registration Department which of the two documents existed in official records. After examining the files, Takke reported that no “Irrevocable General Power of Attorney” was registered under the number cited by the Shaikhs; only a General Power of Attorney was traced. Justice Jain said the alleged fabrication of a registered document was too serious to ignore.
A comparison of the two POAs showed glaring discrepancies – including one signature in English and the other in Urdu – prompting the court to remark that “implementation agencies are too slow… which encourages such persons to commit more frauds”. The judge directed the Advocate General to appoint a senior police officer to probe the suspected fraud, with the court monitoring progress monthly.
The allegedly forged PoA has been ordered to be confiscated, while two December 10, 2016 agreements relied on by the defendants are to be impounded for stamp-duty adjudication. Holding that the plaintiffs had failed to establish a prima facie case or show how the firm acquired title, the HC rejected all three interim pleas.
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