Rs 5 crore Bhandup just slips and slides away

The Gawands are also protected tenants of the state, a privilege enjoyed by persons classified as “weaker sections” such as adivasis and farmers. This means that special permission is required from the state government’s Urban Land Ceiling Department should the land be sold. In Gawand’s case, none was sought.

Trouble began when a middleman, Diwakar Rajam Wyanankar, approached the Gawands in 1995, during the sudden spurt in real estate prices. “The deal was absurd as Wyanankar said he would retain 60 per cent of the plot and give 40 per cent to a developer. I could not interfere much in this case since it was my uncle (Mhatre) who jointly owns the property and it was he who interacted with Wyanankar.”

Exploiting Mhatre and Gawand’s mother’s illiteracy to the hilt, the Mulund-based Magnum Enterprises bought the land from Wyanankar and paid Mhatre Rs 3 lakh. The Gawands say they didn’t receive s penny of this as Mhatre left the family to live separately. When Gawand approached Magnum, he was told that Wyanankar had been paid Rs 13 lakh and Mhatre Rs 3 lakh. The developer said he owned Gawand only 60,000. Shortly thereafter, Gawand received a cheque for Rs 25,000, which he hasn’t encashed till date.

That was in 1997, when Gawand embarked on a murky journey to retrieve what is rightfully his. He then learnt that a “temporary agreement” had been signed between various parties that included Mhatre and another middleman, Vasantji Kharsantji. The intention was to delete the latter’s names and prepare a fresh “agreement” favouring the builders.

After confirming that the City Survey Office still bore his mother’s name as the plot owner as recently as May 6, 2000, Gawande approached the state government’s Konkan Vibhag (which maintains old land records), to secure a copy of the actual title deed (City Survey Nos: 96, 161 & 164), which had been drafted in 1963. Here, he was all but shooed away by an officer, who told him that the documents had been burnt as the office did not maintain papers that were older than 30 years!

Soon, Gawand was to receive another surprise. During his search in the subterranean labyrinth of non-existent deals and wily agents, he found that the civic authorities had acquired an acre of his land for public purposes. Till date, Gawand is at a loss to understand how and when this happened. He has, of course, not received the Floor Space Index that is given as compensation. His efforts to seek the help of Minister of State for Urban Development, Sunil Tatkare, also came to nought.

Weary and without hope, Gawand finally sought legal recourse but when he approached the Small Causes Court in October, he was told by an officer that his case would not stand up to legal scrutiny as the accused are powerful. Gawand says even the peons began to wave him away. With every conceivable avenue ending in a cul-de-sac, Gawande says the ground beneath his feet just keeps slipping away.