Trouble brewing in celeb Juhu society, members allege corruption

A major dispute appears to be brewing at one of Mumbairsquos most highprofile housing societies which is home to celebrities like Jaya and Amitabh Bachchan Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan and Kajol and Ajay Devgn Author Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi and three other residents of the Kapole Cooperative Housing Society CHS have accused its officebearers of corruption They alleged that the officebearers have prevented members from accessing their own property papersOne resident has moved court and filed a complaint with the deputy registrar of Cooperative Societies Siddharth who is also on the societyrsquos committee has sent two legal notices to the Kapolersquos officebearers citing irregularitiesSiddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi authorSiddharth said ldquoI was born and raised in Kapole In May 2022 I approached Kapole CHS secretary Gautam Patel for access to my property papers so that I could digitise them However he turned down my request more than once Patel wrote in his penultimate message to me that the chairman of the society Atul Barot had told him that lsquono document should be parted to anyonersquo and that the managing committee had to lsquoclearrsquo my request before releasing my own property papersrecords to merdquo ldquoWhen I reviewed this with my lawyer he said it violates the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act 1960 My documents cannot be held captive in this way They should at the very least notify me and other property owners about the location of our property papersrdquo said Siddharth the author of The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay and The Last Song of DuskA view of the premises of Kapole CHS PicSatej ShindeSiddharth is currently awaiting a response from the managing committee on his second legal notice after which he would consider filing a FIR After being denied access to his property papers Siddharth sent one of his associates to investigate the society premises and the office He was shocked to learn the Kapole society office was empty unrecognisable and contained no official recordsmdashas it was being renovated ldquoWhat was more shocking was that nobody was informed about the renovation and moving of records from the office All this happened without the knowledge of society members The smallest plot property in Kapole society goes for upward of 10 million dollars Collectively there are 30 plots properties in Kapole society and could fetch a value of over Rs 3000 crore The papers of all these properties were nowhere in the society office where the homeowners had contracted for them to be safely held The loss of even a single piece of paper can negatively impact the title and saleability of the propertyrdquo alleged SiddharthThe accusationsThe complainants have also alleged that the Kapole committee repaired the society office without permission and then held a retrospective SGM to sanction repair funds for an office that had already been fixedThey alleged that the officebearers prepared entirely fake meeting minutes and the minutes were signed by three same members recording their presence for over two yearsA society member informed Siddharth that an SGM was called on May 22 2022 and the agenda was to discuss the renovation of the Kapole societyrsquos office ldquoHowever the majority of the renovation had already been completed Now society officials were calling an SGM retrospectively to release Rs 10 lakh to revamp an office that is less than 100 sqft The SGM wordings are deceptive since it states lsquoto discuss and approve the quotation pertaining to reconstructionrsquo I have videos and images that show the office being restored well before the quotation for the repairs which was the main agenda item of the stated SGMrdquo Siddharth allegedAccording to Siddharth he was not served an intimation notice for the SGM Therefore he called in the SGM notice acknowledgement sheet and found some unknown person had signed against his name ldquoI was shocked to see a signature in the delivery column from a fictitious character named lsquoSurenderrsquo no Surender works at my residence I gave society officials CCTV camera footage of my residence to confirm if their peon or courier had delivered the SGM notice since this might quickly fix the situation The societyrsquos officebearers did not respond I approached the deputy registrar of Cooperative Societies K West ward Nitin Dahibhate about my lost property paperwork and Irsquom still waiting for him to take actionrdquo he added Another member complained to the deputy registrar about the corruption in this society The deputy registrar then ruled that this committee should be dissolved however the office bearers managed to get a stay on the sameJayant Sanghvi another complainant and a resident of Kapole CHS said ldquoAs per the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act 1960 monetary transactions above Rs 50000 need approval from the SGM This approval is to be taken before spending the sum and not after There were many such irregularities following which I filed a complaint with the deputy registrar of Cooperative Societies K West office in 2017 They seemed a little reluctant at first but after repeated followups they acted It took six months but they appointed an inquiry officer In 2019 I moved to the high court for the same and in 202021 again an inquiry officer was appointedrdquoHe added ldquoThere are many irregularities like distribution of funds without the approval of society members plots were merged and still they collect money twice Security charges paid to get votes when no one asks security services charge This is totally unacceptablerdquo 2021 inquiry reportThe inquiry officer sent a notice and intimation four times to the society managing committee however a report submitted by the officer stated that despite repeated intimations nobody turned up for the meetings and no extensions were sought Authorised inquiry officer Shivaji Shinde also pointed out that the attitude on the part of the society officebearers was noncooperative throughout the entire process Shindersquos 2021 report stated that there was unauthorised spending citing payments for security charges from 201415 to 201718 as an example Several other anomalies such as plot mergers without authority are detailed in the report The report also accused the office bearers of the managing committee of abusing funds and power Shindersquos report stated ldquoIt is a wellsettled principle that the society is a public institution and is governed by the established law provisions The society fund is a public fund and is required to spend judicially within the para metres fixed by the rules specified in bylaws and the provisions of Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act 1960 and rule 1961 The office bearers have forgotten this aspect and manage the affairs of society like private entitythey believe that the society fund is their own funds and can spend it as per their whimsthey also forgot that they were entrusted with the responsibility of Protecting the property belongs to the societyrdquoAtul Barot chairman of the Kapole Societyrsquos Managing Committee said he does not have much information regarding the situation and that the Managing Committeersquos Secretary Gautam Patel is the best person to speak with midday contacted Patel on May 27 but he said he was unwell and not in a position to speak and that he needed some time to get back to the queries This paperrsquos calls to Patel again on Monday went unansweredOfficial SpeakNitin Dahibhate deputy registrar of Cooperative Societies K West ward said ldquoWe had already concluded the investigation and had pegged the liabilities but the managing committee went to court and obtained a stay The matter is subjudice now Aside from the concerns stated by Siddharth Shanghvi and the issue of denial of his property document I have requested him to meet with me We will investigate the situationrdquoRs 3K crApprox worth of 30 properties on the premises