The Bombay High Court has granted interim relief to Ultra Lifespace Pvt Ltd and its three directors Mayank Shah, Jignesh Shah, and Tushar Shah in connection with an FIR alleging cheating of Rs38.12 crore. A bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Sandesh Patil, on November 19, directed that the investigation continue till the next hearing on December 10, but no chargesheet should be filed in the meantime.

The directors have sought quashing of the FIR, first registered at Bandra police station and later transferred to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW). Their lawyers, Aabad Ponda and Sujay Kantawala, argued that the matter stems from a commercial dispute and not a criminal offence.

The case originates from a complaint by Vijay Thakkar, 54, a builder from Vile Parle (West), who in 2014 booked three flats in a Bandra Reclamation project developed by Satra Buildcon Pvt Ltd (SBPL). Two flats were priced at Rs11 crore and the third at Rs11.75 crore. Thakkar paid Rs7.33 crore, after which a registered agreement was executed.

Under the agreement, construction was to be completed by December 2017, with the occupancy certificate (OC) within a year. In case of delay, the buyer was entitled to a refund with 18% interest, which Thakkar sought when the project failed to meet the deadline. SBPL later assured possession by December 2019 after redevelopment, but the project was subsequently handed over to Ultra Lifespace.

Ultra Lifespace obtained the OC in 2020 and began giving possession to other buyers. Thakkar alleges he was denied possession of all three flats and approached MahaRERA, which directed Ultra Lifespace to hand over possession and refund pending dues with interest. Thakkar claims Rs30.76 crore is owed and, along with Rs7.35 crore paid for development and maintenance, brings his total claimed loss to Rs38.12 crore.

Thakkar eventually lodged a complaint with the EOW alleging cheating and criminal breach of trust.

Ultra Lifespace directors argue that Thakkar misused police machinery to settle a civil dispute and suppressed crucial facts. They maintain that the original sale was completed under Praful N Satra, former director of SBPL. They claim Thakkar paid only Rs5.23 crore of the total Rs33 crore, leaving Rs27.77 crore unpaid.

The petition also alleges fabricated ante-dated letters from March 2018, permitting deferred payment after the OC. An FIR regarding this alleged forgery had already been lodged, which Thakkar allegedly concealed.

The Mayank Shah group took over SBPL in August 2019, later renaming it Ultra Lifespace. After the takeover, they secured the OC on March 2, 2020, and sent repeated reminders to Thakkar for outstanding dues. Both parties have challenged the MahaRERA order before the appellate tribunal and the High Court, where the matter remains pending.

The plea concludes that no ingredients of cheating are made out, noting: “Surprisingly, no allegation is made against Praful Satra.”

New Delhi, Nov 29: A Delhi court on Saturday deferred the pronouncement of its decision to December 16, on whether to take cognisance of the prosecution complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged National Herald money laundering case.

The high-profile case arrays Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress Overseas chief Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, and others as accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne, who was expected to deliver the verdict on Saturday, has deferred the pronouncement to December 16.

The Rouse Avenue Court had reserved its order on November 7 after the ED submitted additional clarifications following the court’s inspection of the case records.

“Further submissions and clarifications have been advanced by the Additional Solicitor General on behalf of the ED in light of the inspection of the case files by the court. List for orders on November 29,” Judge Gogne had stated.

As per the ED, top Congress functionaries allegedly conspired to wrongfully acquire control of assets exceeding Rs 2,000 crore belonging to Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the original publisher of the National Herald, by paying a nominal price of Rs 50 lakh.

Earlier, the court had deferred its decision, noting that further scrutiny of the transaction documents, alleged rent receipts, and fund flow patterns was required before determining whether the prosecution complaint met the statutory threshold for cognisance under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

While the ED argued that the case involves a “serious economic offence” and a conspiracy to usurp AJL’s properties through Young Indian — in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are majority stakeholders — for a nominal sum, the Congress leaders have described the money laundering allegations as “really strange” and “unprecedented”.

As per the ED, a conspiracy was hatched to form Young Indian to acquire control over the vast assets of the now-defunct newspaper, aimed at benefiting the top Congress leadership personally.

The probe agency reported that several senior Congress leaders were involved in “fake transactions,” alleging that individuals, acting on their instructions, had issued fraudulent advance rent payments for years using fabricated rent receipts.

The controversy over the National Herald’s assets came into focus in 2012 when BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a complaint in a trial court, alleging that Congress leaders had engaged in cheating and breach of trust in the process of acquiring AJL.

Mumbai, Nov 29: Shiv Sena (UBT) on Saturday accused the MahaYuti government led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of making grand claims about infrastructure while ignoring the collapsing healthcare and basic facilities in remote tribal regions.

In its editorial, Saamana, the Shiv Sena (UBT) said the government’s talk of development amounted to nothing more than “empty words” and “colourful balloons” when people living barely a few hours from Mumbai continue to suffer due to poor roads, inadequate health services, and unreliable ambulance systems.

The Thackeray camp urged the Chief Minister to prioritize the basic needs of the poor and remote tribal populations — namely decent roads, health facilities, and reliable ambulance services — before focusing on ambitious projects like the Metro network, highways, and tunnel roads.

The sharp criticism followed the incident in Mokhada in tribal dominated Palghar district, where an ambulance driver dropped off a tribal woman and her newborn baby halfway home after delivery, forcing them and her relatives to walk two km.

According to the editorial, this event, which came to light only because a citizen posted it on social media, exposed the gap between the government’s “vision of development” and the ground reality. It said that despite seven decades of independence, areas like Wada-Mokhada and other tribal parts of the state lack the basic necessities.

“There are no proper roads or adequate transportation facilities (daldalvanachi soy). Even if a Primary Health Center (PHC) exists, it often lacks doctors, staff, or medicines. Due to a lack of roads, pregnant women and sick people have to be carried in slings (zoli) or palanquins (doli) to the nearest town for treatment, which frequently leads to deliveries or deaths during the journey. Even when ambulances are available, they are often useless due to a lack of roads or a lack of drivers,” said the editorial.

“In Mumbai, which the Chief Minister talks about transforming, Mokhada is just a stone’s throw away. If the ambulance driver had been so callously negligent with a laboring tribal woman, what use is your development vision and your transformation?” asked Thackeray camp.

“The MahaYuti partners talk big about development. They boast about building so many lakh km of roads and so many bridges. They float colorful balloons in the air, detailing how they created a network of roads, how they sped up transportation by expanding highways, how they wove the metro rail network, and how they built large hospitals. The incident in Mokhada revealed how baseless these talks and balloons are,” claimed Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena.

The editorial serves as a reminder that while metro networks and expressways may define modern development, the true measure of governance lies in reaching the most marginalised communities with essential services like healthcare, roads, and emergency response systems.