Jaipur,April 27 :SUSPENDED IPL commissioner Lalit Modi may have a lot of explaining to do, not only for his cricket- related activities but also for a couple of “ shady” realty deals involving the purchase of two heritage havelis . Modi was already under the scanner for the manner in which he became the owner of the two structures. But the case took a more damaging turn for him on Monday when a city court was told that Heritage City Construction Private Limited ( HCCPL) — allegedly acting as a front for Modi — was a bogus company.
Worse, it was submitted that he bought the havelis on April 20, 2007, from a person who fraudulently claimed to be the owner.Advocate Ajay Kumar Jain informed Jaipur’s chief judicial magistrate Yudhishthir Sharma on behalf of complainant Sandeep Batra that HCCPL’s address was fictitious.The company was floated by Sajjan Kumar Modi and Satya Narayan Singh.
On September 18, 2007, the real players surfaced when Lalit Modi and his wife Minal joined the company, the court was told. Subsequently, the company changed its name to Anand Hotels Limited with the Modi couple as its directors.
The complaint filed on Friday came up for hearing on Monday. The complaint said Vikas Bhattacharya, who was only an occupant of the havelis , sold it through false representation of facts before the registrar. Jain also presented an earlier judgment on a case filed by Bhattacharya against the Jaipur Municipal Corporation which stated that he was not the owner of the property as it belonged to the state.Jain argued that his case pertained to fraud, false representation of the judicial order and an attempt to fraudulently usurp state property by Modi. The complainant requested the court to direct the police to register a criminal case against Modi, his wife Minal and eight others. The case is likely to be heard on Wednesday.
The Rajasthan government has declared that the two heritage havelis — popularly called Chhabron ki Havelian — near the historic Amber Palace were in fact the property of the state, according to official records.