Mumbai: The Mumbai police recently informed the Bombay high court that it will not arrest one Shakeela Sultan Maredia, 60, who was booked for allegedly cheating a Gujarat-based NRI by not handing over possession of a flat, 30 years after the latter had purchased it.
The sessions court had rejected prearrest bail plea of Shakeela and others involved in the case on May 7, noting that the investigation was in progress and granting them relief may hamper the same.
Shakeela approached the HC, where the police assured Vacation judge MW Chandwani that it will “not arrest the applicant (Shakeela) till the next date of hearing subject to a condition that the applicant shall cooperate with the investigation” The judge, on May 17, asked Shakeela to attend the Bandra police station and cooperate with the probe and kept the plea for hearing on July 2.
The case dates to 1994 when Dr Mehboob Kapadia wanted to invest in real estate. A friend told him about M/s Far Holding Private Limited and introduced him to its directors – Sultan Maredia, Shakeela Sultan Maredia, Rahim Maredia, Pyarali Maredia, and Imtiyaz Maredia. The directors told him that they were going to construct a 14-storey building, Sagar Elegance, on Bandra’s Hill Road.
He purchased flat number 201, measuring 850 square feet, and paid Rs74 lakh, of which Rs30 lakh was paid in the company’s name and remaining amount in the name of M/s Maredia Associates. He was given an allotment letter on February 29, 1994.
Kapadia returned to the US but was in constant touch with the directors of the company. In 2001, Sultan Maredia passed away. When Kapadia returned to India, the Income Tax department served him a notice for not disclosing that he had rented his flat at Sagar Elegance. When he went to check, he found Sultan’s wife, Shakeela, was staying in flat 201 with her children. She requested him to allow her to reside there for some time.
In 2007, Kapadia again visited India and found that the building was completed but his flat had been rented out. He inquired with Shakeela about possession, who instead allegedly abused and threatened him with dire consequences. However, another company director assured him that he will be handed over the possession within six months and gave a cheque of Rs 5 crore as security.
Two years later, when he still wasn't given possession, he threatened to file a complaint. The directors then assured him that they would either hand over the possession or alternatively hand over possession of another flat. In 2015, the building was granted OC, but only up to the fourth floor.
Kapadia then filed an FIR with the Bandra police in 2017 and a case was registered under relevant sections of the 0Indian Penal Code for cheating and criminal breach of trust and the Maharashtra Ownership Flats (Regulation of the Promotion of Construction, Sale, Management and Transfer) Act.
