Police deployed outside the bungalow in Vadodara on Saturday Police deployed outside the bungalow in Vadodara on Saturday

The Special Secretary Revenue Department (SSRD) of the Gujarat government on Wednesday stayed the permission granted by the Vadodara district collector for the sale of a bungalow by businesswoman Geeta Goradia to another noted businessman and educationist Faizal Faslani, after residents of the locality protested saying the property was sold in contravention of the Disturbed Areas Act.

The 15,000-square-ft property, located in Kesarbaug society on Tandalja Vasna Road, was sold in August for Rs 6 crore.

The order comes just a day after residents of Kesarbaug and surrounding colonies met Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and submitted a memorandum contending that the sale had gone against the provisions of the Act, which they said does not permit the sale of a property to a Muslim in a Hindu-dominated area and vice-versa until each immediate neighbour of such property consents to the deal.

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The residents had earlier complained to Vadodara District Collector Shalini Agarwal, following which she initiated an inquiry but informed the residents that the power to cancel any property transaction under the Disturbed Areas Act was not vested with the Collector but with the SSRD.

The SSRD on Wednesday told the collectorate that following the Collectors’ and police department’s reports, it was setting aside the permission granted in June to execute the deal between Geeta Goradia and Faisal Fazlani, pending inquiry into the documents pertaining to the process. According to the district administration officers, this is the first order of its kind.

“The order of SSRD KM Bhimjiyani has come today in which it has been stated that there is some (alleged) irregularity in the said deal between Geeta Goradia and Faisal Fazlani…and the permission given for the transaction in June under the Disturbed Areas Act should be set aside until the probe is complete,” Additional Resident Collector DR Patel told The Indian Express.

Patel said that as the parties had registered the property and transferred its ownership in August, the status quo would mean that the property would remain in the Fazlani’s possession for now.

Residents of the locality who objected to the deal claim that the family subverted the process of law by submitting erroneous applications with misleading addresses as well as signatures. The memorandum submitted to Rupani also demanded the immediate suspension of the officials who ratified the property deal, stating that “in several cases of clearance by local authorities to such deals between Hindu sellers and Muslim buyers, the procedure is not followed due to the connivance of the officers”. It also alleged that several such sales have occurred as “corrupt officers have forged permissions from neighbours” by including “signatures of unrelated persons posing as residents of the said society”.

Both the buyer and seller have said that the process to seek permission had been initiated earlier this year, following which the sale was completed in August.

The residents also submitted documents from the revenue department obtained through RTI (Right to Information Act) to the authorities, citing discrepancy in the address and signatures of both parties to the deal. “The Chief Minister has taken interest in our case and instructed officials to expedite the cancellation of the deal immediately,” a resident of the society, who was part of the group that met the Chief Minister on Tuesday said.

Top police officials say that the report submitted in the matter from the police department after an inquiry has revealed that the police station concerned dodged an important provision in the course of verifying the sale. According to a top officer of the Vadodara police, officials of the JP Road police station recorded the no-objection statements of the two immediate neighbours by calling them to the police station, instead of visiting the society to conduct a physical check, as necessitated by the law. Therefore, the no-objection of the neighbours, which is the most important parameter for such a sale to be approved, cannot be considered in this case, the officer said.

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