Clover Highlands land dispute: Builder sends ‘warning’ letter to residents - Hindustan Times
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Clover Highlands land dispute: Builder sends ‘warning’ letter to residents

Hindustan Times, Pune | ByPrachi Bari, Pune
Feb 23, 2018 11:29 PM IST

On February 22, Clover Highlands residents received a notice from Clover Developers warning them of legal action if they continued to make “defamatory” claims about land strife.

An ugly spat has broken out between the residents of Clover Highlands cooperative housing society off NIBM road and builder Raj Bhansali, director, Clover Developers Private Limited, over the residents’ demand for the deemed conveyance deed since October 2007 and other issues.

Clover Highlands residents were forced to call the police after the workers sent by the builder refused to stop building the wall in their garden space, even after repeated protests.(Rahul Raut/HT PHOTO)
Clover Highlands residents were forced to call the police after the workers sent by the builder refused to stop building the wall in their garden space, even after repeated protests.(Rahul Raut/HT PHOTO)

HT had reported on February 20 about the residents complaining that the builder was not giving them the conveyance deed since October 2007.

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On February 22, the residents received a notice from the builder warning them of stern legal action in case they continued to make “defamatory statements” about the dispute. The letter advised the residents to unconditionally withdraw their petition within 48 hours, tender an apology and “also desist from any such adventures of trial by press which will directly or indirectly cause prejudice to” the builder.

“Please note the matter is sub judice. Bombay high court has dismissed the writ petition and review petition filed by Clover Highlands society and even the consumer complaint was withdrawn by the society. The saat bara, as of date, stands in our name for the entire land. There is an annual general meeting resolution of 2008 wherein it was resolved that conveyance will be given after completion of the entire project. We have all the documents in support of our contention,” said Raj Bhansali, director, Clover Developers Private Limited.

If sending a notice was not all, the residents were taken by surprise to see the lawns near the society office being marked and dug up by the contractors sent by the builder. “We saw huge boulders and prefabricated walls being brought in and workers getting busy digging up the lawn,” said secretary of the Clover Highlands cooperative housing society, Vijaya Hasurkar .

Soon, the lawn was filled up with more than 100 residents, all blocking the workers and attempting to stop the work. When HT reached the society, the police had been called and were busy speaking to the residents.

Also present were the former corporator Narayan Lonkar, Kondhwa ward corporator Nanda Lonkar and building permission department representative Sandesh Patil. Along with the senior police inspector Milind Gaikwad of Kondhwa police station, they checked the sanctioned building plans, measured the dugout pits and the length and width of the amenity spaces that belonged to the society. “We are doing the panchnama and will file a case of trespassing against the builder,” he said.

“The builder was inside the society premises on February 22. He had brought prefab walls and was overlooking the process. On February 23 morning, some construction workers, along with site engineers from the Clover Builders, were in the process of erecting a wall in our lawn. We asked them to kindly to stop the activity and asked them to bring a letter explaining the activity, but the workers continued with their work saying that they had orders. I called the police following this illegal move,” said Rear Admiral (retd) MP Taneja, who is the chairman of the society.

“The committee has filed a police complaint over the criminal trespassing on the society land by the builder. The land was given to us when the society was formed and we are going to follow it up with legal procedures,” Taneja added.

BOX-1

Clover Highlands cooperative housing society off NIBM road was built by Clover Developers, which earlier operated under the brand name of Gargi Constructions Private Limited, in 2007. According to the housing society’s chairman, Rear Admiral (retd) MP Taneja, there are currently 438 dwelling units divided over 18 buildings, numbered from 10 to 27 and row houses four per block from A to M.

The committee of Clover Highlands, Brig Gautam Tandon; treasurer Mayank Pandya; secretary Vijaya Hasurkar; joint secretary members Prashant Vadgaonkar, Dr Pimi Pandya, Sucharita Negi, Leela Motwani, Rani Singh and Sarita Mullick, had approached the consumer forum to find a solution to the issue.

BOX-2: What is Conveyance Deed and Deemed Conveyance Deed?

As per law, the promoter (builder/ developer) is legally required to convey the land and the building within four months of formation of the society or any legal body of the flat purchasers.

However, many promoters have not conveyed the land and building to the legal bodies. To deal with this, the government had amended the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act, 1963 (MOFA), and had provided for the deemed conveyance in favour of the legal bodies.

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