HC dismisses Churchgate resident’s claim over Bohra bizman’s properties

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has upheld the order passed by the revenue minister in May 2022, striking down name of Churchgate resident Rajiv Somani from the revenue records of a beach house and four immovable properties in Alibag that belonged to late Bohra businessman Iqbal Lukmani.
Somani claimed that he had taken care of Lukmani’s second wife Jessica from time to time and assisted her financially. In return, Jessica had in November 2003 gifted him the beach house and her share in the four properties at Alibag, which he had accepted and taken possession of, making the gift legally complete. Based on this claim, in January 2015, Somani filed an application with the tahsildar of Alibag for entering his name in the revenue records of the properties. A mutation entry to that effect was certified in September 2015.
However, some legal heirs of Jessica and her legal guardian, Vinod Shenoy, challenged the order before the sub-divisional officer (SDO), leading to it being struck down. Somani then appealed to the district collector followed by the revenue minister, where the reversal of mutation entries was upheld. He approached the high court after the minister too refused him relief.
In the high court, a single judge bench of justice RM Joshi upheld the minister’s order after noticing that though the gift was purportedly made in 2003, Somani applied for mutation of his name in the revenue records for the first time after a gap of 12 years. The court also noticed discrepancies between his statement, wherein he said he was put in possession of the properties on November 21, 2003, and his claim made in a matter filed by some Lukmani family members, in which he stated that he used to visit the properties as a “guest”.
“There cannot be any dispute made with regard to the legal position that unless possession of subject matter of gift is handed over physically or constructively, gift is not complete,” said justice Joshi. “The affidavit of the petitioner himself apparently shows that he was neither in physical nor even in constructive possession of the subject properties,” the bench added while dismissing Somani’s plea.
The court has, however, extended a status quo order passed in September 2022 for four weeks to enable him to approach the supreme court.