Vadodara Collector orders probe into sale of property under Disturbed Areas Act

Sources close to both businesspersons say the deal was sealed in August although the process to seek permission under the Disturbed Areas Act was initiated earlier this year. Qayyum Memon, a cousin of Fazlani, told this newspaper, “The entire process prescribed under the Disturbed Areas Act has been duly followed. It took the authorities close to four months to process our application for sale and it includes the no-objections from the immediate neighbours that the Goradias have given.

“We had applied for the sale to be ratified by the Collector in December 2018. The permission for the same came in June this year and the deed was registered in August thereafter. It took them all these months to confirm the deal and follow the process. We haven’t received any official communication from the Revenue department, the police or the collector about this controversy created by a few residents in the vicinity,” Memon said.

On Thursday, a group of about 50 residents belonging to various residential colonies around Kesarbaug submitted an application to the district collector, challenging the sale of the property and contending that the sale has been effected through bogus documents which is in contravention of the Disturbed Areas Act. The memorandum contends that as per the provisions of the Act, the sale of a property to a Muslim in a Hindu dominated area and vice-versa cannot be done until each immediate neighbour of such property consents to the deal.

The memorandum states, “However, in several cases of clearance by the local authorities to such deals between Hindu sellers and Muslim buyers, the procedure is not followed due to the connivance of the officers.” The memorandum alleges that several such sales of “land jihad” have occurred as “corrupt officers have forged (sic) permissions from neighbours” by including “signatures of unrelated persons posing as residents of the said society”.

In 2017, the Hindu Jagran Manch had also filed similar cases against property deals in residential colonies in the vicinity.

According to Memon, who was part of the discussions during the sale, the property was chosen as it is close to the Muslim neighborhood of Tandalja and has other Muslim families residing in the immediate vicinity too. “Barely 100 metres away is a society that has at least three Muslim families, including the home of the popular (cricketers) Yusuf and Irfan Pathan,” Memon said. “We never imagined that this controversy would come up here. The Fazlani family resides in Mumbai and they were looking for a house in Vadodara to shift base. Accordingly we were looking for homes in this neighbourhood when we heard that the prestigious Goradia family has put up their house for sale. The deal valued at Rs 6 crore is completely transparent for anyone to see.”

When contacted, Goradia told this newspaper that the deal with the Fazlanis followed the due process of law. “The land of this property belongs to my mother in law Dr Nirmala Goradia who is now 98 years old. She was very keen to dispose of this property during her lifetime. So we put up the property for sale some time last year. The (Fazlani) family approached us to purchase it and they were genuine buyers. We have followed the due process of law is all I can say. We have a reputation as a family and we definitely did not want to do anything to dodge any process in place.”

According to the Act, a positive report from the police department is mandatory for the local revenue officer to clear the sale. This report is prepared after the police conducts a verification and seeks a no-objection from the immediate neighbours of the said property. While officials of JP road police station in this case confirm that a check has been conducted, the District Collector has demanded a report from the mamlatdar as well as the police department following the complaint by the residents. On Thursday, the 50 residents submitted their statements to the police too, objecting to the sale.

At a meeting with the collector on Friday, the residents urged that the deal be nullified, claiming it could have otherwise have “adverse” effects on the peace and development of the neighbourhood. Collector Agarwal assured them that a fair investigation would be conducted to confirm if the sale followed the process of law. When contacted Agarwal said, “Since the complaint is for a case of the Disturbed Areas Act, we have to take it seriously and inquire into it. If the deal is indeed good to (sic) the law, it will definitely be upheld. I have sought a report from the SDM (sub-divisional magistrate) as well as the police. We will decide the matter soon.”

One of the 50 residents, who not wish to be identified, said the fear among locals is that the sale will trigger more people of the minority community to move to the neighbourhood. “There is a reason why the Disturbed Areas Act is in place. It is to promote harmony while disallowing any one community from being pressured to make distress sales,” he said. “There have been many such sales in recent years that have flouted the law. This is a big plot and it can be later converted into another housing project for the community by the owners. We cannot allow this to happen and we are agitating because we know that not everything is right about this deal. The police has not taken our “no-objection” in this matter,” he added.

A top police official said, “It is a fact that the city police did not give a “positive report” in previous cases of sales under the Disturbed Areas Act, as a practice to avoid resulting distress sales. We are checking this specific instance, as the residents have demanded a probe. The police opinion, in any case, is not binding on the district authorities permitting such sales. However, we will investigate this particular case to determine if the police verification was indeed bypassed.”