usuf Patel, the late gangster-turned-real estate heavyweight, was the real money maker in the controversial Campa Cola compound housing complex at Worli in Mumbai. Patel, a close aide of underworld don Haji Mastan, built Campa Cola in 1985. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued him permission to build only five floors. However, he violated all rules and constructed unauthorised floors comprising 102 flats. He threatened the BMC officials of dire consequences whenever they tried to take any action, as a result of which, the illegalities were buried in BMC files until 1999, when the residents applied for water connection for their flats.

Patel and his partners had permission to construct nine buildings of six floors each. They constructed seven buildings, three of which had six floors, and the other four had seven, eight, 17 and 20 floors. They knew that the extra floors were unauthorised, so they sold them at a price lower than the market rate. The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed its own order to demolish the 102 illegal flats, saying that it was disturbed by media reports on the residents' plight. The SC has asked the BMC not to take any action against the society until 31 May. The residents claim that the builder was at fault for the illegalities and they should not be made to pay the price for his misdeeds.

The records with the BMC show that it had issued stop-work notice to Campa Cola on 12 November 1984 for going beyond the permitted five floors. It sent another notice the next year but could not take any action in the absence of a concrete law. "No one dared to touch Yusuf Patel because of his proximity to Haji Mastan," senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Madhu Chavan recalled. Chavan was chairman of the Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA) during 1997-99.

Mastan was known as Mumbai's first underworld don who was deeply involved in smuggling in the 1970s and 1980s. Chavan said that Patel or Mastan never spilled anyone's blood. However, Patel's thirst for money created problems for the Campa Cola residents in later years. He had the dubious distinction of pioneering the acquisition of the illegal Floor Space Index (FSI) to build skyscrapers. A resident said that the rate for a three-room-kitchen legal flat in Campa Cola is Rs 5 crore, while an illegal flat is available for Rs 1.5 crore.

Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai blamed the Maharashtra government for the mess: "The state does not have a housing policy to deal with errant builders. It had prepared a law to punish the errant builders but the Union government suggested several amendments, diluting the provision of harsh punishment to the builders."