Vasai

Muslim

Gujarati

NOC

The police arrested nine members of a housing society inwho denied the sale of a flat to afamily. Ten members of the Happy Jivan society, Vasai (W) were booked under section 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and section 298 (Uttering words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person) after they objected to aflat-owner selling her home to a Muslim family.Kantaben Patel, 55, had finalised the sale of her flat to Vikar Ahmed Khan, 32, and had also accepted a token of around one lakh rupees.However, when Patel wanted a noobjection certificate () from the society, ten members held a meeting raising objections to the prospective sale and passed a resolution to keep Muslims out of the building that has a majority of Gujarati-speaking residents. The members also sent Patel and her son a letter ‘requesting’ them not to sell their flat to a Muslim family as “it might affect the society’s atmosphere.”Patel was assured of a no-objection certificate only after she wrote to the sub-registrar and the police, asking for their intervention and an FIR was filed against the members. The nine members were produced before the Vasai court and granted bail. The tenth member was out of town, police sources said.