The fourth generation descendent of the man who started the Matheran toy train has moved the Bombay high court seeking Rs90 crore as royalty from the government.
The fourth generation descendent of the man who started the Matheran toy train has moved the Bombay high court seeking Rs90 crore as royalty from the government.
Abdul Hussein Adamjee Peerbhoy began the toy train from Neral to Matheran with the then Bombay governor’s permission. The service was taken over by the government of Bombay province in 1951.
Now, Ali Akbar Adamjee Peerbhoy, 48, the petitioner, has contended that the agreement between the government of Bombay and the Peerbhoy family in 1951 holds no water because it doesn’t have the names of the buyer and seller and there is no mention of the mode of payment.
The government took over the service, but it did not honour its commitment to the family and did not pay it appropriate remuneration, Peerbhoy said in the petition.
He has also challenged the government’s move to start a shuttle service from Aman Lodge railway station (the penultimate station on the Neral-Matheran route) to Matheran. “During the centenary celebrations in 2007, the Central Railway demolished an arch at Aman Lodge station,” Peerbhoy said. “They are harming the heritage of Abdul Hussein Adamjee Peerbhoy.” His advocate, SG Kudale, said the case would soon come up for hearing.
The 1904 Matheran Tramway order, issued by the British, gives the Peerbhoy family all legal rights related to the train. If the government wanted to buy the service, it would have to give six months’ notice. But the Peerbhoys did not get any notice, the petition said.
“The agreement was between my great grandfather Abdul Hussein Adamjee Peerbhoy and the then governor-general in council,” Peerbhoy said. “Clause 44 of the agreement says the government was supposed to buy the property in 1940. The purchase price would be 25 times the average revenue earned over three years preceding the date of purchase. Till the money was paid the government would have to pay the Peerbhoy family 3% annual interest.”
The government said the 1951 agreement was entered into by way of sale deed or conveyance for purchase of the railway from the owners.
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