Dawood Ibrahim’s Damarwala building illegal, violated FSI by 3 times: SAFEMA

Mangalore Today News Network

Mumbai, Oct 2017 : A day before Diwali, Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA) had issued a newspaper advertisement. It was for a public auction of three properties, all belonging to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

 

As per the ad, the ownership of these properties -- with plot size of 3241 square feet -- would be at the reserve price of around Rs 4 crore, which is "quite less", as compared to the present property rate of Rs 13,000-15,000 per square feet in Bhendi Bazaar, South Mumbai locality.

BUT WHY THE PROPERTIES BEING AUCTIONED OFF?

Speaking to the administrators of SAFEMA and the tenants staying in Dawood’s properties, Indiatoday.in found out the real reasons behind this auction.

The first property to go under hammer is Building no 24, Shabnam Guest House, at the reserve price of Rs 1,21,43,000. As per the rule, the interested parties needs to pay Earnest Money (EMD) of Rs 48,57,200 to SAFEMA by November 10 for this tenanted building.

Documents available with Indiatoday.in show CS No 4334 has a ground floor area in square feet of 825 sq ft. FSI of one has been used to construct the first floor in this building. Hence, the total built up area in building in square feet is 1650 sq.ft, with no illegality.

But a month back, the building was noticed by SAFEMA for its dilapidated conditions. SAFEMA had appealed the tenants of Shabnam Guest House to vacant "as it could go down anytime in future". Also, the building is under legal dispute with SAFEMA for being a Dawood property.

The second property to be auctioned is the prominent Damarwala building located at the corner of Pakmodia Street and Yakub Street. This four-storey building is where Dawood had spent his adulthood, sister Haseena Parkar died, and brother Iqbal Kaskar was staying till he was arrested.

As per the advertisement, SAFEMA would auction Damarwala building (tenanted) and its room number. 18-20, 25, 26 and 28 and plot no. 17-21, 34-40 (C.S.No.4327). The tenancy right of this complete building would be sold at the reserve price of Rs 1,55,76,000 on November 14, and earnest money (EMD) of Rs 62,30,400 by November 10.

As per the sources within SAFEMA and documents in hand with Indiatoday.in, Damarwala building is illegal. "Damarwala was supposed to be a single floor building, but the owner got it constructed and increased its height by four floors. Instead of using one FSI, the Damarwala building misused it by three times. It is a clear cut violation of FSI guidelines and therefore, the building is illegal," the source confirmed Indiatoday.in.

 

Damarwala building

Even document with Indiatoday.in confirms the allegation. As per the document, the total plot area of C.S.No. 4327 (tenanted building) is 2080 sq.ft. Instead of constructing just one more floor like Shabnam Guest House, this building increased its height by four floors, with an additional area of 8320 sq.ft. i.e. the total built up area of this building, at present, is 10,400 sq.feet.

Moreover, at least 30 tenants and 10 shopkeepers are staying in this illegal dilapidated building, which were noticed by SAFEMA to vacate, a month back.

The last property of Dawood in this list, to be auctioned is Hotel Raunaq Afroz, a building/structure at Plot no. 4 at Pakmodia Street, Bhendi Bazaar at the reserve price of Rs 1,18,63,000 and EMD of Rs 23,72,800.

As per the document, it is a ground floor plot with total area of 336 sq.ft, and total built up area of same size, hence, nothing illegal about it.

Still after probing the legality of these properties, Indiatoday.in didn’t get the answer from SAFEMA on reasons behind the valuation.

On the condition of anonymity, one administrator told Indiatoday.in that, "The reserve price of these properties has been decided by the government valuators from Centre, SAFEMA has nothing to do with it. SAFEMA is bound to its duties and rulebooks".

So, the reasons are two. One, the Damarwala building is illegal with at least 30-40 tenants staying, today. Even if SAFEMA demolish it for the redevelopment plan, then also it would not able to construct it above 2080 square feet, as per the available FSI, i.e. one. Constructing additional 6000-8000 sq.ft for the residing tenants would not be feasible for SAFEMA.

Second, the building is in dilapidated mode. "If any untoward incidents happen, who would be responsible for it? It would be SAFEMA, only", the administrator said.

Ironically, when it comes to Dawood properties, SAFEMA has been left alone to fight it back.  "After the building collapse incident at Bhendi Bazaar, SAFEMA wrote a letter to BMC Commissioner to vacate these buildings. But nothing happened. We also issued notices to all tenants of these dangerous buildings to vacate immediately, but nobody did till now", the source said.

As per Maharashtra Tenancy Act, SAFEMA has to provide accommodation to tenants of Damarwala building, without taking any rent from them. However, as these tenanted buildings have been forfeited by SAFEMA, tenants are depositing rents their monthly rents to SAFEMA, in the range of Rs 100-200 per month, per room (Indiatoday.in have the copy of receipt).

Therefore, the Central Government and the agency has decided to get rid of Dawood properties at any cost (including reserve price). "In case, if any situation arise and SAFEMA have to give transit facilities to these tenants than we need to spend at least Rs 5000 per tenant, per month (against rent of Rs 100-200 per tenant, per month), which would not be feasible for the government body", the source said. These were some of ground realities that SAFEMA had considered before releasing an advertisement in national newspapers, inviting the interested parties for Dawood properties, at lowest reserve price.

"The new private owners would deal with these tenants and their redevelopment issues. At least, hamara tension khatam ho jaayega", the source quipped.

"If the buyers feel that the reserve price for Dawood properties located in South Mumbai are peanuts, than we should expect a long queue soon. But if there are any fear factors within the parties, then also an option of e-auction has been given to hide the name and profile of buyers, till the time properties are auctioned, completely", the administrator said.

Even tenants are happy with this latest development. Salman Kazi, tenant of Damarwala building told Indiatoday.in, "For us, it is a win-win situation. It is better to have a private owner, rather than a government agency. Whoever comes, it has to think about our redevelopment plan and to hand over our home at right price."

In an advertisement published by the Ministry of Finance, the said interested parties should contact the competent authority of SAFEMA.  The auction will be held through public auction and e-auction at the Indian Merchants Chamber, Mumbai, between 10 am to 12 noon.


courtesy:Indiatoday