Gujarat High Court grants relief to Muslim man facing opposition by Hindu residents over residential plot

The Gujarat High Court has granted relief to a Muslim buyer of a plot located at a Hindu-dominated residential society in Vadodara by permitting him to restart construction of the house and restoration of electricity which had been cut off by the civic body and electricity department.

The buyer is one of the many Muslims who have purchased properties at the Samarpan Society but are finding it difficult to settle in view of angry protests by several Hindu residents allegedly on "communal lines."

Justice Bhargav D Karia pronounced the order last week on a petition moved by Firoz Mohammed Patel who had sought permission for construction and restoration of electricity supply. The society has been in controversy on similar issues for nearly a year. Patel had bought a plot measuring 5,003 sq mt for Rs1.35 crore from Firoz Fali Contractor under the Disturbed Areas Act, 1991 as the locality falls under the area defined by this Act.

Patel has said that after buying the plot by fulling all the legal formalities, he obtained permission for construction from the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) and a temporary electricity connection from the electricity board. However, from May onwards, Patel started facing protests from the Hindu residents and eventually the civic body stopped him from construction and his electricity connection was also cancelled with his meters taken away.

In the petition, Patel mentioned that some of the members of the society made representations to government authorities and raised “completely baseless and frivolous allegations of illegal construction, fraudulent Disturbed Areas Act permission etc.” He has said that the “underlying motive” behind such allegations was communal and such allegations were raised to pressurise and harass him. The controversy had reached a point where a society road was blocked by the protesting residents and despite notice by VMC, the road has not been opened as yet.

Meanwhile, in August, the seller of the plot, Firoz Fali Contractor, was booked for cheating, forging and violation of the Disturbed Areas Act. It was alleged that he concealed his Parsi religion and sold the plot to Patel, the petitioner, by violating the Disturbed Areas Act. Contractor has also moved the High Court seeking quashing of the FIR while saying that he followed all the procedures prescribed under the Actt.

The Act defines a certain area as "disturbed" to avoid distress sale of immovable properties without prior permission from a local authority like the district collector. Under the Act, the seller and the purchaser have to satisfy the authority that they are transacting mutually with consent. The Act came into being to avoid distress sale from areas infested with violence.

However, in the last several years, dozens of cases have been filed after Muslim buyers bought flat or plot in a society dominated by Hindus. Most of these cases were found to have followed the law yet the buyers faced protest. In many such instances, the buyers were forced to leave the society and the deals were cancelled.