Gujarat HC penalises third parties opposing property sale in Vadodara under Disturbed Areas Act
Two independent witnesses objected to the sale of a property in Vadodara, originally owned by Hindus, to Muslims in a Hindu-dominated area governed by the Disturbed Areas Act. They had earlier assented to the sale in 2016.
Two panchas, who had earlier assented to the sale in 2016, came before the court last year, seeking a recall of an order passed by the Gujarat HC in 2020. (Express Photo/File) The Gujarat High Court Thursday imposed costs of Rs 50,000 on two panchas (independent witnesses) raising an objection to the sale of a property in Vadodara originally owned by Hindus to Muslims, in a Hindu-dominated area governed by the Disturbed Areas Act.
Two panchas, who had earlier assented to the sale in 2016, came before the court last year, seeking a recall of an order passed by the Gujarat HC in 2020, upholding the sale of the property to be of free consent and at fair value, and that it was not a distress sale. The panchas, who were otherwise neighbours where the property is located in Vadodara, also sought in a separate application that they be made parties to the litigation.
The court questioned the motive of the two panchas and noted that the panchas had made their declaration expressing their ‘no objection’ to the transfer in 2016, and hence the court had upheld the sale to be valid and not a distress sale in March 2020.
The HC observed, “Two years after the (court’s) decision they surface before this court asking for a recall of the order on the ground that they have never signed or that they were coerced into signing. Unfortunately, a suggestion from the court to the state to examine this led to a situation where the state machinery has gone ahead and re-examined these panchas in the year 2022- 23, in which they appear to be not disputing their signatures but the circumstances of them being made to sign”.
The court observed that statements have also been recorded of certain other neighbours who have now come forward suggesting that the sale should not have happened as it was creating a situation where the equilibrium was being disturbed.
“This exercise of the state, through an affidavit, is a suggestion of opposing the application, but the intention is seen otherwise. The motive of the applicants (panchas) has to be seen in the light of this development. Unfortunately for the applicants, the apprehension of the court on such motive appears to be justified by a subsequent application made by ten third-party applicants who professed to be neighbours seeking to be joined as parties to the recall application on the ground that they are really affected parties as the shops purchased by the original petitioners is adjoining their shops,” the HC said.
The court also observed in its order that the now Muslim proprietors of the property, Onali Ezazuddin Dholkawala, and Iqbal Hussain Asgarali Tinwala, despite successfully registering their sale deed, had complained to the police in October 2021 after the neighbours restricted them from undertaking renovation and repairs to the dilapidated structure so that the property can be occupied.
“This when seen in the context of the facts itself is a disturbing factor that a successful purchaser of property in a disturbed area is being hounded and thwarted in his attempt to enjoy the fruits of the property which he successfully purchased,” the court recorded while dismissing the applications.
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