The MahaRERA has summoned Makarand Deshmukh, deputy commissioner at the Konkan Bhavan, who was holding temporary charge at the suburban collectorate, to clarify his stand on suspending the auction of Jawahar Talkies compound at Mulund in Bombay despite a warrant from real estate regulator MahaRERA to attach and sell the property belonging to Nirmal Developers for defaulting on payments to home buyers. The MahaRERA has also written to the suburban district collector and sought action against the tehsildar who wrote a letter to the collector, seeking guidance and stalling the auction on the basis of a letter sent by the developer. MahaRERA questioned the move to halt the auction without verifying the claims of the builder.
An earlier attempt to auction the cinema plot was also halted after a finance firm moved court, stating that it had a lien on the property. Revenue officials initiated the auction process for the second time on January 18, 2023. However, Makarand Deshmukh wrote to MahaRERA, citing a letter from Nirmal Developers on January 12 in which the firm claimed that 60% of the amount due to complainants had been paid and, therefore, seeking an amended order. On January 13, the collector wrote to MahaRERA, seeking advice on further action while the tehsildar sought guidance from the collector’s office on the very day the developer’s letter was received.
The MahaRERA wrote to Makarand Deshmukh on January 24, saying that the authority had issued several warrants for recovery of more than Rs. 43.93 crore between 2018 and 2019 and that it was after a four-year delay that the auction was scheduled. However, the auction was stopped without directions from MahaRERA and without verifying that home buyers had in fact been repaid. The home buyers are also up in arms against the revenue officials for the postponement of the auction. “The auction was halted without checking the merits and proof of payments to home buyers,” said complainants Gaurav Hatalkar and Haresh Gori.