Protesters say developer has not been giving the promised rent since 2019, even after HC order; they now await Supreme Court hearing in April
BIT Chawl Chandanwadi residents stage a protest at Azad Maidan on Friday. Pics/Bipin Kokate
Tenants of the Bombay Improvement Trust (BIT) Chawl at Chandanwadi, who have not been getting the promised rent of Rs 32,000 from the builder carrying out the redevelopment work since 2019, staged a protest at Azad Maidan on Friday. The case has been in the court for over two years while the tenants have been out of their homes since 2016.
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As per the terms of agreement, the developer, Valencia & Mishal Ventures Pvt Ltd, was supposed to pay the 680 tenants a monthly rent of R32,000 along with a corpus amount of Rs 11,11,000. The developer had also promised to complete the work in three years and hand over 405 sq ft flats to each of the tenants.
In August 2020, the petitioners filed a case with the Bombay High Court which in October 2021 directed the developer to continue paying the rent amount till the completion of the project. However, in November 2021, Valencia & Mishal Ventures Pvt Ltd approached the Supreme Court against the HC order. The next hearing is supposed to take place sometime in April.
Allegations
Sanjay Gosai, one of the petitioners, said, “We were told that the building would have 22 floors but now it is set to have 44 floors. These things are happening without our permission.” He further claimed that the previous committee of the society which was dealing with the developer has turned its back on tenants and gave the developer power of attorney.
Sanjay Gosai, a petitioner
He also pointed out that the tenants are vehemently opposed to the TB clinic which has been moved to the rehabilitation part of the building without any prior information. “The developer said that the TB clinic is run by the BMC, so they can’t do anything,” said Gosai, adding that they found out about the same only after taking the matter to the high court.
DeveloperSpeak
Aatif Yakub of Valencia & Mishal Ventures Pvt Ltd said that they provided transit accommodation at new buildings in Kandivli and Chembur but the tenants refused to move there. “I offered accommodation in Mumbai city limits, but they insisted on taking R32,000 from me as rent. But they stayed in Vasai and Virar for R8000 and were profiting from it, which is not allowed.”
“The developers have paid approximately R80 crore to the tenants so far,” said Yakub. He also mentioned that they stopped giving the rent to the tenants from 2019 as they refused to sign the tripartite agreement, which has BMC as a party. When asked about this, Gosai said, “The tripartite agreement states that we have to bear the taxes. Why should we do that? Everything should be borne by the developers.”
Speaking about the other allegations levelled by the tenants, Yakub said that according to the Letter of Intent (LOI), the building was supposed to be constructed in five years from 2016. He added that the work was delayed as they got the Intimation of Disapproval or Authorisation only in 2018 and then the work was again put on halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also rubbished the tenants’ claim and said that the building was supposed to have 44 floors from the beginning. He said the work has been done till the fifth floor and as per their undertaking in the Bombay High Court, they will give the rehabilitation component to the tenants by 2025.”
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