Mumbai: A resident of Mahindra Park in Ghatkopar (West) filed a case against Mahindra Lifespace Developers and the housing complex he resides in for allegedly unlawfully not handing over 5,763sq m of land originally mentioned in his flat sale agreement registered in 1997.
The petition states that the developer unlawfully alienated 5,763sq m from the land parcel of 32,463sq m in Mahindra Park to obtain transfer of development rights from the civic body in 2002, without his consent. The developer is yet to execute conveyance in the society's favour as well.
The petitioner, advocate Vinod Natesan moved to the society in Sept 1997 and went overseas in 2001, which is when seven building blocks proposed as per the plans were completed along with a clubhouse and a swimming pool. The remaining two blocks were completed by Feb 2004 as per records and another block, which was not part of the original plan of 1994, was completed in Nov 2004.
“The layout or land use plan shows dramatic variations from the flat sale agreement… indicating that the builder has made alterations to the building plans after the sale of flats,” Mr Natesan claimed. In June 2010, a conveyance deed was sent by the builder, in which the layout was based on a new civic plan, which is different from what was mentioned in the sale agreement, with the land reduced from 32,463sq m to 26,702sq m.
In 2012, certain anonymous emails were making rounds within the society about alleged unlawful activities and collusion between the managing committee and the builder. The petitioner investigated these anonymous allegations and published the discoveries on a blog and also complained about it to the municipal commissioner and chief minister. Thereafter, in 2015, Mahindra Park filed a consumer complaint against the realtor, which was adjourned in 2017 to settle the matter.
“The manner of this proposed settlement was opaque, causing a lot of concern amongst the general body, including this complainant,” reads the petition copy. The consumer complaint has been moved to provide conveyance of the entire 32,463sq m of land and compensate the 400 flat owners to the tune of Rs7.77 crore among others.
