MUMBAI: The owners of a sea-facing bungalow on Pedder Road, the family of the late Maharaja Martand Singh of Rewa, an erstwhile princely state located in present-day Madhya Pradesh, have complained to the police that the property has been fraudulently sold for Rs 20 crore on the basis of a fake power of attorney. 

Representatives of Pushpraj Singh, a scion of the erstwhile royal family and the sole legal heir to the property, have filed complaints in both Mumbai and Rewa against the transaction which was carried out by Mumbai-based Jamaluddin Shaikh in 2011. 

According to the sale agreement, a token amount of Rs 5 crore was supposed to be paid to Singh for the bungalow, named Rewa Kothi, which is located towards the Haji Ali end of Pedder Road. Of this, Rs 50 lakh was paid into an account in the Patna branch ofHDFC BankBSE -0.27 % while Rs 4.5 crore was supposedly paid in cash in several tranches. 

Pushpraj Singh said the so-called deal was fraudulent and that no authentic power of attorney existed in favour of Shaikh for the two-storey bungalow which has an estimated market price of Rs 200 crore. According to him, the family became aware of the transaction when Shaikh and another person arrived in Rewa to complete the deal by paying the 'balance' Rs 15 crore. 

"We have not entered into any transaction to sell this property. I don't even know who these people are... there is no question of receiving any token money for it from anyone," said Singh, whose wife Ragini Singh stays in the bungalow along with her daughter and support staff. Shaikh — as per the power of attorney, a copy of which is available with ET — is a resident of Behram Nagar slum in Bandra suburb of Mumbai. 

However, the address mentioned in the document could not be traced by this paper due to incomplete details. "The property cannot be sold as there is a status quo ordered by the Supreme Court in an old matter related to the late Maharaja's will. Even if Maharaja Pushparaj Singh wants to sell it, he cannot," said Alka Tiwari, chief executive of His Highness Maharaja Martand Singh Charitable Trust, which controls all the properties and assets of the erstwhile royal family. 

Singh also has no bank account with HDFC Bank's Patna Branch, Tiwari said, adding that the property had been sought to be sold in this fashion twice earlier. "We have lodged a complaint with Rewa police regarding the fake deal and power of attorney. However, they have not registered an FIR (first information report) about this stating that the property is in Mumbai and, therefore, it needs to be registered there," Tiwari said. 

Prakashchandra Buch, the erstwhile royal family's representative in Mumbai, has informed the Gamdevi police about the transaction and sought help in case anybody tries to wrest control of the property. "Yes, we have been informed about this disputed transaction in which the said power of attorney has been used and the complainant has sought protection," said Suresh Chowdhary, senior police inspector, Gamdevi police station. 

However, he also added the power of attorney was executed in Rewa and, therefore, any probe needed in this matter can be undertaken by police there. The photographs used for the sale agreement and power of attorney are fake as are his purported signatures, Singh's representatives said, pointing out that the copy of voter identity card was also forged and that there was overwriting on a copy of his passport used for the unauthorised sale. 

 

source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/news/fraud-deal-maharajas-rs-200-cr-bungalow-sold-for-rs-20-cr/articleshow/18842329.cms