Mumbai: D-Gang man, society siphoned Rs 93 lakh from Malad high-rise, says SRA

‘Before the scheduled hearing, our committee received a disqualification order preventing us from participating in the upcoming election. This decision was made without allowing us to present our side of the story. We gave continuous reminders and asked for documents so that we could reply to them in our explanation but neither were we given the documents nor were we allowed to explain’ Sonu Jalan, former chairman, Auris Serenity

Finally, the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) has ordered the recovery of Rs 93 lakh from a bookie Sonu Jalan and 13 committee members of Auris Serenity at Malad West. The order alleges that Jalan and the committee members misused society funds for an illegal society office, water pipeline work, and illegal transfer charges from society members. Meanwhile, Jalan claims harassment from a government officer and plans to take legal action against them.

mid-day published reports detailing Jalan's misuse of power and society funds for unauthorised construction during his tenure as chairman. The order, issued by an SRA official on February 8 under section 98, allows for the transfer of disputes between courts. Jalan disputes the order, stating that the same officer previously cleared them and questions the officer's authority to issue another recovery order.

In December, the SRA issued another recovery order under section 83, directing Sonu Jalan, secretary Jeorge Gomes, treasurer Prada Shetty, and committee members Satish Mehta, Vishal Desai, Nivrutti Shethi, Ketan Gandhi, Nandkumar Vihiti, Jignesh Ghelani, Tejas Ashar, Ashish Kheria, Raji Tiwari, and Chetan Doshi to pay the amount.

Each member is required to pay Rs 7,13,823, totalling approximately Rs 92,79,592. An investigation by high court advocate and retired auditor Nityanand Samant revealed the misuse of funds for an illegal office and water pipeline, leading to complaints to the BMC, resulting in demolition.

The high-rise in Malad. File pic

Around 20 residents of the society complained to the BMC about this illegal office, and the BMC demolished it by giving the notice. The committee members also charged transfer fees of Rs 25,000 from residents when they wanted to sell their flats.

A resident said, "This is a fraud case, and the SRA should register an FIR. We have been fighting to get justice and finally achieved justice. Thanks to mid-day for highlighting the issue."

Jalan expressed concerns regarding the recent developments involving the SRA officer. According to Jalan, the actions taken by Bawankule and her team have been one-sided and lack transparency.

Jalan told mid-day, "While we were initially given a meeting date on January 23 at the officer's Bandra office to explain, we were surprised to find the officer unavailable upon our arrival. We were then verbally informed of a rescheduled hearing on February 27."

"However, before the scheduled hearing, our committee received a disqualification order preventing us from participating in the upcoming election. This decision was made without allowing us to present our side of the story, we gave continuous reminders and asked for documents so that we could reply to them but neither were we given the documents nor were we allowed to explain them."

He plans to file a writ petition against the officer's decision, alleging corruption.

13
No. of committee members