MUMBAI: Do thespian Dilip Kumar and his equally famous wife, actor Saira Banu, own the bungalow property on Pali Hill where they lived for over 50 years before it was demolished or not?
The half-acre plot is in the middle of a dispute after Saira Banu last week accused builder Samir
Bhojwani of harassment and trying to usurp the property. The stakes are high; the property is worth an estimated Rs 250 crore, according to real estate sources.
"The accused is very well aware that my husband is 94 years old. Due to such pressure his health and my health is further deteriorating. Taking advantage, the accused may use all government machinery against us," she said in a letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Banu sent a message to TOI through a family friend that she would not like to say anything further beyond what is mentioned in her letter.
Bhojwani, a Bandra-based builder known for his luxury residential buildings, said the actor has only been a tenant of the bungalow since 1953.
Bhojwani's father, Narain, had purchased the property from the
Mulraj Khatau Trust in 1986. "My father became the lessor and Dilip Kumar became my father's lessee. After my father passed away, I became the actor's landlord," Bhojwani told TOI.
"When Kumar breached the terms of the lease and demolished the bungalow and entered into an agreement with a builder to redevelop it in 2008, I filed a suit in the small causes court for eviction. This suit is still pending,'' said the builder.
The two-storey bungalow built in the early 1920s also included servants' quarters and a garden. They demolished the structure nine years ago to make way for a high-rise.
The actor entered into a development agreement with Sharyans Resources and Gold Beam Constructions (
Parijita Developers). The actor would get a specified amount and 50% rights in the development potential of the plot. Bhojwani said, as owner, it was his prerogative to develop the property and dragged Kumar to court.
However, Kumar backed out of the deal with Parijita for failing to start work and wanted the plot back. The dispute landed up in court. Early this year, the
Supreme Court directed the actor to pay back Rs 20 crore he had taken from Parijita as part payment.
Before Parijita exited, Kumar had already signed a development agreement with another builder, Kishor Bajaj of Black Rock, last year. Bajaj, who runs fine dining restaurants like Hakkasan, has paid atoken amount of Rs 11lakh to Kumar for the development rights. The developer will be entitled to half of the development potential of the plot and the remaining half will be retained by Kumar.
But on Wednesday, Saira Banu met the police and CM to complain about Bhojwani's "harassment", alleging that he wants to throw them out of the premises by "fabricating and forging documents on his great financial strength".
She said Bhojwani had "illegally" and "unlawfully" registered the deed of confirmation for the property in his favour and that she had complained to the inspector general of registrar about it.
Bhojwani countered the allegations, stating that the small causes court on June 14, 2016, held that he is the landlord of the property. "Dilip Kumar has challenged this order. The appeal is pending. Even as the eviction proceedings are pending, Dilip Kumar is wrongly representing himself to be the owner and inducing third parties to invest money in the property. He brings one investor after another, and I am left with just adding and deleting them in my suit," he said.
