Bombay High Court directed JVPD Properties Limited, Builder Lakshman Bhagtani and his sons, to refund investors’ money who invested in Bhagtani Riyo housing project in Mira Road due to a unsuccessful development of residential complex after accepting money from several home buyers. The latest allegation come into lime light, house buyer pertaining to Serenity in Powai, Sapphire in Dahisar East and Savannah in Kanjurmarg.
High Court Justice AM Badar directed Lakshman Bhagtani and his son Dipesh on October 3 to furnish the complete list of buyers and detailed yet to be refunded on the next hearing. Justice Badar passed the order when Dipesh submitted an affidavit-cum-undertaking, stating that the company would deposit ₹ 22 crore or more in equal instalments in the next six months starting October 12. Order brings peace and smile to hundreds of home buyers, whose money were frozen by the builder for the project that never began.
Now, Sapphire and Savannah home buyers also claimed that the projects have no headway since four years back. JVPD Properties Limited is a sister concern of Jaycee Homes Ltd.
Seema Saini resident of Andheri said, “I invested ₹ 20.71 lakhs for my flat on 16th floor C wing of Serenity project near Hiranandani hospital in Powai on December 2014 and they promised me to complete the project within 42 months and possession will be in March 2018. But no development yet except fenced barren on land, so even I need my money,” who has formed a group of Serenity.
Saini is planning to file the case along with another 22 similarly affected home buyers under IPC section 420 in Economic Offences Wing against Bhagtani and seven other employees of the company.
Another house buyer, Naveen Dsouza, who works for an IT sector, invested ₹ 13 lakhs for Sapphire project located in Dahisar East on February 2013. With the project failing to take off, I signed the cancellation deed to get my money with 15 per cent interest but not yet received they promised to pay me the money within 15 days, still I received only ₹ 25,000 on June 10, 2017.
Dhanashree Kalokhe, from Australia, invested ₹ 18.5 lakh in December 2014 for Savannah project after seen the profile of Jaycee Homes Ltd. Except 1BHK sample flat, there is nothing at the project site. Since December 2016, builder is blaming the government for IOD (Intimation of Disapproval) issue related to the dumping ground.”
When contacted, Dipesh said, “due to liquidity issues that some projects are slowdown in construction sector”.
Bhagtani said, “we have refunded about 150 people money who invested in sapphire at Dahisar, with 15 per cent interest as mentioned in the allotment letters. We accept there is a cash flow issue, but we have obtained the Letter of Intent, and the file is being processed for LOI & IOA after which we can start construction”.
Powai project is to be built in two phases. We have received IOD CC and started work at the site.
He said, “out of Serenity’s six towers, only one had been registered with Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA). RERA provisions say that only the part which has got all requisite approvals should be registered. We have received approval for tower A and waiting for the remaining approvals. For Kanjurmarg, we have started booking in 2015 and within two years we have cleared the land title and boundary wall. However, there is a High Court order (March 2016) pertaining to the dumping ground due to which there is a delay in getting permission for building plans. It has nothing directly to do with my site, but the court had said that only MHADA, Cess and SRA buildings should be given approvals, and not redevelopment of old buildings and development of open land. That’s why our buildings plans are not yet sanctioned by the BMC.”
