Five persons, including the Hiranandani brothers and the director of Hiranandani Constructions, will be appearing in court today on charges of cheating a group of homebuyers.
Vathsala Shenoy, the complainant, was promised a flat in 1985 by a builder, SC Dand, one of the accused in the case. At the time, Dand was taking booking under a project called the Powai Park Social Housing Scheme, which is now brought over by Hiranandani Developers.
Dand had reportedly booked 285 homes under the scheme. Shenoy had booked two flats under the scheme and was granted membership in 1990. She had paid Rs 3.19 lakh. However, till date, her family has not moved into the promised flat nor have they been given their money back. “We did not purchase any other home, hoping that we would be moving here,” said Shenoy.
Dand had started construction on the ground floor, but could not finish the contract he took up as he had run out of money. He then approached the Niranjan Hiranandani and offered them to take over the development project, and asked the Hiranandani Group to pay the settlement amount to the members of the housing scheme. “We do not know how many bookings Dand had made. We do not know what he did with the money either. He took responsibility of settling the matter with the members,” said Sanjay Parekh, the general manager, business development management of the Hiranandani Group.
Parekh also pointed out that the agreement was divided into a land and construction agreement. “Dand had only taken the money in accordance to the land agreement.
The construction agreement was due to be signed and thus the complainant cannot hold him liable for the flat,” added Parekh. The Hiranandanis had also met the Shenoys and offered them the settlement amount that they had offered to the 170 members at Rs 2000 per sq.feet. “A flat in Mumbai costs more than Rs 1 crore now. How can I buy a home with the money I am being offered? In my petition, I have asked for compensation in accordance to the current market value in Powai,” said Shenoy.
Meanwhile, Hansa Dand, along with 25 other people, in a similar plight, who were not around when the compensations were offered, plan on taking up the issue with the Bombay High Court.
“We are planning to get all the 25 people who want their flats that they had paid for and file a case in the High Court,” she said, alleging that Hiranandani Constructions had offered them Rs. 20 lakh as compensation.
Earlier, the court summoned the accused including Surendra Hiranandani and his brother Niranjan Hiranandani on February 6, 2013. They both were granted bail applications and will be appearing for the first trial hearing along with two of the other accused on March 6.
Dand, the director of the Powai Housing Development, the primary accused, passed away and his name was deleted from the list of accused.
Source: http://www.mumbaimirror.com
