Antilia puts its stance to Wakf Board
Mukesh Ambani's Antilia Commercial has asked the Wakf Board to hear its version before taking any action.
By TNN |
MUMBAI: Mukesh Ambani-controlled Antilia Commercial has swung into action to save the industrialist’s 27-storyed dream mansion coming up in Mumbai’s tony Malbar Hills.
Antilia, whose land on Altamount Road is on the verge of being reclaimed by the Wakf Board, has asked the custodian of Muslim religious property to hear its version before taking any action. It is building a 27-storey skyscraper residential complex for the Reliance Industries chairman on the 4,532 sq mt plot.
Antilia has made this request in a reply to a notice issued by the Board, official sources said here on Wednesday. The Board, which had issued the notice on July 5, received the reply on Tuesday. Spokesperson for the RIL, however, declined to comment.
The state government had on July 3 drawn its attention to the findings of an inquiry committee which had found “truth in charges that the Altamount plot deal was illegal”. The government had directed the Board to proceed “as per Section 52 of the Wakf Act against Antilia”.
Section 52 pertains to acquiring Wakf property in contravention of provisions of Section 51 of the Act, sources said.
As was reported Antilia had acquired the land from Currimbhoy Orphanage Trust in 2002, before the state Wakf Board was set up. After the Board was created, the Orphanage Trust paid a Wakf fee of Rs 16 lakh to the Board on account of the deal.
“The reply speaks about the amount of money paid to the Currimbhoy Orphanage Trust from whom the land was acquired in 2002. It also refers to the Rs 16 lakh Wakf fund received by the Board from the Trust,” a source said.
Antilia, whose land on Altamount Road is on the verge of being reclaimed by the Wakf Board, has asked the custodian of Muslim religious property to hear its version before taking any action. It is building a 27-storey skyscraper residential complex for the Reliance Industries chairman on the 4,532 sq mt plot.
Antilia has made this request in a reply to a notice issued by the Board, official sources said here on Wednesday. The Board, which had issued the notice on July 5, received the reply on Tuesday. Spokesperson for the RIL, however, declined to comment.
The state government had on July 3 drawn its attention to the findings of an inquiry committee which had found “truth in charges that the Altamount plot deal was illegal”. The government had directed the Board to proceed “as per Section 52 of the Wakf Act against Antilia”.
Section 52 pertains to acquiring Wakf property in contravention of provisions of Section 51 of the Act, sources said.
As was reported Antilia had acquired the land from Currimbhoy Orphanage Trust in 2002, before the state Wakf Board was set up. After the Board was created, the Orphanage Trust paid a Wakf fee of Rs 16 lakh to the Board on account of the deal.
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Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh announced a probe by a judicial commission into all Wakf land deals in the state after this deal was raised in the ongoing monsoon session of the state legislature. Antilia Commercial, in its reply filed on Tuesday, has sought to “elaborately” explain how the land deal was legal. The reply, sent through Antilia’s Mumbai-based legal counsel, cites the sequence of the Altamount land deal.“The reply speaks about the amount of money paid to the Currimbhoy Orphanage Trust from whom the land was acquired in 2002. It also refers to the Rs 16 lakh Wakf fund received by the Board from the Trust,” a source said.
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