The Bombay High Court has put a temporary stop to the redevelopment of a plot in Andheri after the legal heirs of late Bhagwandas Bajaj claimed a 50% ownership stake in the property and challenged its transfer to a developer.
The dispute centres on a plot originally acquired by a partnership firm involving members of the Bajaj and Motiramani families. The plaintiffs argued that a series of partnership agreements and family arrangements executed between 1976 and 1999 established the property as a jointly owned asset of the six original partners rather than an asset belonging solely to the partnership firm.
Represented by Senior Advocate Ashish Kamat and Dr Pallavi Divekar of Divekar & Co., the plaintiffs contended that Bhagwandas Bajaj’s share increased to 50% after another partner transferred his interest to him. Following his death, they claimed, those rights passed on to his legal heirs.
The plaintiffs further alleged that assignment deeds executed in 2005 and 2019, which eventually led to the property being transferred to a developer, were carried out without their knowledge or consent.
The defendants disputed these claims, maintaining that the land remained an asset of the partnership firm. They also argued that the heirs had never exercised their right to join the partnership after Bhagwandas Bajaj’s death and that the challenge had been filed beyond the permissible limitation period.
However, Justice Milind N. Jadhav observed that a 1988 Memorandum of Understanding indicated that the Andheri property would remain an asset of all six partners. The court also referred to a 2018 email in which the defendants allegedly discussed purchasing the plaintiffs’ share in the property.
At the interim stage, the court held that these documents prima facie supported the plaintiffs’ claim. It restrained all parties, including developers and those claiming rights through them, from carrying out construction, transferring the property, creating third-party rights or altering the nature of the land until the suit is finally decided.
The court clarified that its findings are preliminary and that the ownership dispute will be adjudicated after a full trial.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
