Raheja wins appeal against Wadia in Malad land case

'Ferani Can Build On 460 Acres, Sell Minus Wadia's Nod' Mumbai: Real estate baron G L Raheja won a significant victory against industrialist Nusli Wadia when the Bombay high court on Thursday allowed his company, Ferani Hotels, to build on 460-acre land in Malad and sell the premises, without conditions. Wadia said he would appeal against the order before the Supreme Court.      The developer has been embroiled in a legal tussle with Wadia, the sole administrator of the plot, worth Rs 20,000 crore. The HC set aside a two-year-old order restraining Raheja from handing over the possession of any structure his firm built on the land without Wadia's nod. Among the properties constructed on 350 acres of the land are Infinity Mall, Interface Complex, Infinity IT Park, and Palm Court Complex. But taking away the partial relief granted by Justice Roshan Dalvi to Wadia, a bench of Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice R D Dhanuka said an "injunction to preclude sale and possession without consent of parties would bring the entirety of projects virtually to a standstill".      The dispute centres around a 1995 agreement between Wadia and Ferani Hotels that allowed K Raheja Construction to develop the E F Dinshaw land in Malad and pay 12% of the gross sale proceeds to Wadia.      The HC bench has directed that Raheja must continue depositing the 12% share. The court held the intention of the two parties was to sell to "genuine third parties" as contended by Wadia.      The HC appointed retired HC judge S K Shah to record evidence of all past deals and submit a report in three months. Once the report is ready, within three months, a judge will have to decide if Wadia's claim in suit is barred by the law of limitation that places a three-year bar against initiating cases for relief in monetary disputes.      Raheja said disagreement arose in 2000 and Wadia approached the court eight years later. In 2008, Wadia terminated the 1995 deal claiming the developer had breached it by "fraudulently selling to own nominees and not genuine third parties". He moved the HC to prevent further construction by Raheja and sought damages of Rs 1,370 crore saying the power of attorney granted to Raheja was misused to deprive him of his 12% share by undervaluing the deals. Refuting the allegation, Ferani said it paid Wadia Rs 223 crore, an amount he was entitled to.      In 2010, Justice Dalvi said a fraud, if any, came to light in 2000 and placed conditions on Raheja's sale. Raheja's firm and Wadia moved the HC and their appeals were decided on Friday when Wadia got no relief.      Wadia's solicitor Shrikant Doijode and counsel Fali Nariman argued the builder had committed a fraud, the deal was ended and thus he was not entitled to develop the land. Denying fraud, Ferani's solictor Vivek Vashi and counsel Abhishek Singhvi stressed that jurisdiction must first be decided by court before going into merits of a case. They said Wadia's suit was time-barred. Wadia's counsel argued it was a "continuing fraud" and attributed the two-year gap between filing a suit and applying for interim order toBMC's 2009 reply that, in the absence of a court order validating the termination of Raheja's power of attorney rights by Wadia, it could not stop issuing development permission to the builder. Raheja's lawyers took exception to Nariman, pointing to ready reckoner that lists market value of properties, a point the judge accepted. "Can a stay on construction be warranted at this stage?" HC asked. Disposing the appeals in Raheja's favour, its answer was in negative.