BEST depot allotted to third-party developer; MahaRERA turns blind eye

Amid rising cases of developers duping flat buyers is one of the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport BEST too being taken for a ride The Marol Maroshi bus depot was allegedly illegally allotted to Ms Dhruvi Properties Private Ltd for construction by Ms KSL and Industries Ltd with whom BEST had entered into an agreement in 2008This was done despite the BEST estate managers refusal BEST authorities have initiated a probe The MahaRERA registration of projects too names MS Dhruvi as the developers of the land Consumers have even deposited money for booking flats in the tower allegedly being developed hereThe matter came to light when P Almeida who had booked a flat in the project mdash Empress Heights mdash approached advocate Godfrey Pimenta The Almeida couple had booked a 2 BHK flat measuring 660 sq ft worth R118 crore and paid around R41 lakh in 2011 Disappointed with the delay in securing their flat documents and possession the couple wanted to withdraw from the project The duo approached MahaRERA in 2018 where they were told to either wait some more or withdraw and get a refund with 30 per cent deduction from the deposit paid Fearing a R11lakh loss they opted to stay in the projectPimenta however suspected some misdoings and filed a Right to Information RTI query with the BEST Building Proposal Department BMC Western Suburbs and thats how the scam was uncoveredPimenta said according to the RTI response BEST owns the land in Andheri East measuring 4798 sq mt and as per the Sanctioned Development Plan of Mumbai 2034 the said plots are collectively designated for BEST Bus DepotThe BMC awarded the development rights of such BEST depots to various parties and the Marol one was accordingly given to KSL vide a development agreement dated May 15 2008 executed between BEST as the owner of one part and KSL and Industries Ltd as the developer of the other part As per the terms of the agreement the developer is required to construct a bus station staff quarters with parking yard among other things in four phases In case of delay the developer was also required to pay a per day penalty However KSL has been embroiled in Enforcement Directorate case and work on developing the plots was stalledThe development of the bus depot came under the jurisdiction of MahaRERA Authority on May 1 2017 and it is now registered with MahaRERA After the RTI query was filed BEST has refused to assign the development rights granted vide the Development Agreement of 2008 in favour of KSL and Industries LtdBEST also stated that Dhruvi Properties has no locus standi much less any rights to be termed as the developer of the depot It has illegally registered the project on MahaRERA website and is selling flatscommercial structures to unsuspecting buyers pointed out Nicolas Almeida of Watch Dog Foundation who had also sought information under RTIAttempts made to contact both KSL and Dhruvi Properties did not yield any resultsBEST promises actionS R Potnis chief engineer civil and public information officer BEST said that the BEST has shared all information with advocate Pimenta and Sanjay Khachane assistant general manager civil is overseeing the case We have initiated an inquiry into the matter and those involved will be stringently dealt with We will seek clarity from KSL on this he said to which another senior BEST official added We have been told by KSL that Dhruvi was the contractor but as per the tender agreement they cannot appoint any such contractorHowever Pimenta questioned Dhruvis registration as the developer of the project if it claims to be a contractor Also the agreement for sale given to my client indicates a triparty agreement with Dhruvi Properties mentioned as vendor and KSL as the confirming party he saidMahaRERA should have been carefulSenior property lawyer Vinod Sampat said planning authorities are usually not bothered with the company developing the property MahaRERA should have been careful It should now initiate suo motu action rather than waiting for the flat purchasers to point out deficiencies he saidSolicitor Stuti Galiya added that any sale agreement with flat owners ought to have been executed between BEST developer and the concerned flat owner Dhruvi has no locus standi to enter into sale agreements with the flat purchasers Any such agreement will be regarded as null and void Flat purchasers too should exercise basic diligence and verify title and ownership documents before purchasing any property she said adding that if the BEST now refuses to recognise them as purchasers they will have to bear the brunt and prepare for a very long journey to justiceCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates