Mumbai: The Chembur police have registered an FIR against former office-bearers of a cooperative housing society for allegedly executing and registering a redevelopment-related document without authority while the society was functioning under an administrator.
Accused named in FIR
The accused named in the FIR are former office-bearers Vanita Satish Acharya, Shirish Ramdas Chikalge and Ramdas Anant Chikalge of The Chembur Ishkrupa Cooperative Housing Society in Subhash Nagar, Chembur.
According to the complaint filed by Navin Morarji Nagda, 60, a businessman and current chairman of the society committee since January 2025, the accused allegedly entered into a “Deed of Confirmation” on December 5, 2024, in connection with the society’s redevelopment project and got the document registered at the Kurla Sub-Registrar’s office despite lacking legal authority to act on behalf of the society.
Building declared dangerous
The society building had earlier been declared dangerous by MHADA, following which Navin Nagda vacated the premises and moved elsewhere. A new 11-member managing committee was later elected under official supervision, with Nagda appointed as chairman.
The FIR states that internal disputes within the society date back to 2013, when complaints were filed against the then managing committee before the Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies. Following an inquiry, five members of the previous committee, including Vanita Acharya and Ramdas Chikalge, were allegedly disqualified by cooperative authorities.
Administrator appointed in 2018
As the committee no longer had the required quorum, Assistant Cooperative Officer Chandrashekhar Dongarwar was appointed as authorised officer and administrator to oversee the society’s affairs in May 2018. Police said that despite repeated requests, the former office-bearers allegedly failed to hand over the society’s records and documents to the administrator.
The disqualified members subsequently challenged the orders before higher cooperative authorities and later before the Bombay High Court. However, the disqualification orders were upheld at every stage, and no stay was granted against them, the FIR stated.
Disqualification upheld at all levels
On July 3, 2024, the writ petition filed by the disqualified members was withdrawn before the High Court. The court directed the administrator to conduct elections and constitute a new managing committee by October 31, 2024, and also instructed the former committee members to immediately hand over all society records.
The newly elected committee, which assumed charge on January 8, 2025, allegedly discovered during scrutiny of documents obtained from the Sub-Registrar’s office website that a redevelopment-related “Deed of Confirmation” had already been registered on behalf of the Chembur Ishkrupa Co-operative Housing Society on December 5, 2024, by members of the dissolved committee Vanita Acharya, Ramdas Chikhalge, and Shirish Chikhalge, with developers developers M/s Vesta Infra and Reality, represented by Satish Raool and Uday Raool of Thakur Complex, Kandivali East.
New committee discovers illegal deed
As per the FIR, the document mentioned the society property’s market value at Rs 32.74 crore along with details related to compensation and stamp duty. The complainant has alleged that certain resolutions referred to in the document were fabricated.
The FIR further states that although the redevelopment agreement was allegedly executed in 2017, no reference to such an agreement was ever made before cooperative authorities or the High Court during hearings held between 2019 and 2024. The new committee has alleged that society members and the administrator were never informed about the agreement during the prolonged legal proceedings.
Based on Navin Nagda's complaint, the Chembur police have registered a case under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) Act and are investigating allegations of unauthorized execution of documents and alleged fraud against the society.
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