10 June,2009 10:28 AM IST | | Vinod Kumar Menon
Diamond merchant accuses sister and brother-in-law of falsely making a will of their deceased father to grab property, jewellery
In yet another ugly family feud gone public, a diamond merchant has registered a case against his sister for forging the signature of their dead father to claim her stake in ancestral property worth Rs 100 crore at Fort and Ujjain.
In his complaint lodged with the MRA Marg police on May 6, Mukesh Jhaveri has accused one of his sisters, Sheela Goenka, and her husband Sunil of fraudulently making a will of their father Bansilal Jhaveri (72), who passed away on April 26, 2007.
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Father in hospital
It has been said that the Goenkas also succeeded in operating the locker registered in Bansilal's name in the Fort branch of Bank of India by submitting a fraudulent letter and removing gold and diamond-studded jewellery from it. A bank official has also been named in the complaint.
Interestingly, Mukesh has pointed out that the accused claimed that the will was signed by their late father on April 18, 2007, but the fact was that their father was admitted in the ICU of Bombay Hospital from April 12 to April 19.
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He was on the ventilator for most of that time and in no condition to sign the will.
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Moreover, the signatures on the will and letter to the bank do not even tally with the original signature of
the deceased.
Anticipatory bail
Said Mukesh, "The existence of the will came to light while we were performing my father's last rites on May 8, 2007.
Everyone in my family knew my dad had never desired to make a will during his lifetime."
Soon after the complaint was filed, Sheela and Sunil moved for anticipatory bail, which was granted to them. Inspector Raja Bidkar of MRA Marg police station said,u00a0"It is a strong case for prosecution.
Preliminary inquires have revealed that the accused have fraudulently operated the bank locker and even forged the signature of the deceased on the will."
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Bidkar added that they would submit the will to handwriting experts and might even conduct forensics tests to establish the truth.
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But Sunil Goenka told MiD DAY, "These are baseless allegations."
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Advocate Ashok Sarogi, who is representing Goenka said, "The FIR is in lieu of civil proceedings filed by Goenkas where they have succeeded in getting court orders in their favour.
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The Jhaveris have used the deceased's Power of Attorney to dispose of property in Mumbai and Indore."
