Mumbai: The sessions court has rejected the pre-arrest bail plea of a 70-year-old woman from Chembur in a cheating case related to the sale of her flat. The woman sold her flat that was mortgaged with the bank, which further auctioned it as she failed to pay the monthly instalments. The home buyer has petitioned that the purchase amount was not returned to her even as the flat was sold to a third party.
The complainant, Sunanda Ghokshe, paid for the flat owned by Shobha Bhatia at Ganga Laxmi Sadan CHS in Chembur for Rs1.75 crore. The two entered into an agreement on February 11, 2021. Ghokshe paid Rs48.20 lakh in four instalments, with the remaining amount due after registration.
Bhatia, while seeking anticipatory bail, claimed it was “just a notarised agreement” which is not enforceable by law. She claimed that Ghokshe did not take any steps to take possession of the flat and get it registered till 2023, and that Ghokshe could not pay the balance amount in time. In the meantime, the flat was auctioned by the bank as she herself could not pay the equal monthly instalments, she has claimed. As per Bhatia’s plea, she has no active involvement and Ghokshe can avail civil remedies for the recovery of the amount.
The plea has been opposed by the prosecution, saying that Bhatia failed to appear before the police when the notice was issued. Besides, there is no record to show that the money taken from Ghokshe was not returned.
.jpg)
.jpg)
While rejecting Ghokshe’s plea, the court observed that prima facie there was an agreement between the complainant and applicant. “Though the said document is not a registered document, it is notarised. Therefore, it seems that a transaction took place between both parties. Whether the document is legal or not will be decided during the trial… There are also no cogent documents on record produced by the applicant to show that she refunded the amount,” the court observed.
.png)
