A Rs 2-crore plot thickens to Rs 52 crore

Starting from an initial offer of Rs1.91 crore for a plot of land in Kalina, Santa Cruz (east), the Kalpataru Group pegged its final bid for the land at Rs51.46 crore at a recent auction. Bombay High Court, however, is convinced that the actual market price for the 5,122 sq mt plot abutting the Western Express Highway is much more.

Adding to the HC’s amazement was the fact that the second-highest bidder at Rs51.45 crore was a contingent of 250-odd persons residing in hutments, which have encroached upon the land.

“We are glad that even slumdwellers can make such an offer,” Justice SB Mhase and Justice AA Kumbhakoni said,  hinting at the deep-pocketed builders’ lobby backing the encroachers. With the plot not being designated as a slum, the encroachers could not take advantage of the slum rehabilitation scheme.

To find out the real market value of the land, which is embroiled in a legal tussle between the AH Wadia Trust and descendants of Sakharam Patil, who was leased the agricultural plot by the trust in 1938, the HC on Wednesday directed the charity commissioner to conduct a fresh public auction.

The terms of the public auction will be finalised on Friday. Fresh auction will start with the base price of Rs51.46 crore. The worth of the plot, which the Wadia Trust’s initial evaluation report in 2004 had valued at a mere Rs1.50 crore, is evident from the bitter squabbling between the parties. While the recent public auction by the charity commissioner saw Kalpataru Builders staking the highest bid of Rs51.46 crore, one of Patil’s sons, Dattaram, offered to pay a higher price and tendered a pay order of Rs1.65 crore to the court on Wednesday. The encroachers, too, have initiated acquisition proceedings for the land situated near Hotel Grand Hyatt.

The Wadia Trust had leased the agricultural land to Sakharam Patil in 1938. Patil’s descendants continued to cultivate it after his death. The trust did not renew the lease, but it continued to accept rents from the Patils.

In 2004, the trust approached the charity commissioner stating that they wanted to sell off the land. Patil’s sons  — Pandurang and Dattaram — opposed the move, claiming to be deemed owners of the land under the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act.

The charity commissioner rejected their application. The brothers then moved HC against the order. Pandurang’s lawyers, Rajni Iyer and RK Ramani, argued that their client was in possession of the land and had the first right to purchase it at 40 per cent of the market price.

The judges said that only after a fresh auction determined the plot’s price, would the HC okay the final bid. While government pleader JS Saluja stated that interested bidders should deposit 25 per cent of the cost to show their genuineness, the trust demanded that the deposit be hiked to 75 per cent of the cost. The terms would be be finalised on Friday.