Bhujbals lived in posh Santacruz home, real owners locked out

MUMBAI: Amid allegations of amassing a multi-crore empire spanning mines in Indonesia, sugar mills in Nasik and real estate companies, now former public works minister Chhagan Bhujbal and his family face accusations in a land grab case, which left the real owners, a Catholic family from Santacruz, locked out of their home and denied of its ownership for more than a decade.

For the past three years, Bhujbal’s family, including his son Pankaj and nephew Sameer, was staying in the nine-storey Solitaire building in Santacruz (West), built on a plot that did not belong to them. It was built after the demolition of the bungalow La Petite Fleur or The Little Flower, belonging to Francis Fernandes and his heirs. The property card of the plot continues to be in the name of the late Fernandes and his eldest daughter. For the plot, all the family has got so far is a cheque for Rs1 lakh that they claim is yet to be cashed. How did Parvesh Constructions — Sameer and Pankaj were directors — get this prime plot? The answer is a classic story of land sharks, middlemen and those in power bending rules to grab realty in Mumbai.

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...with regards to this property, legal processes, permissions were pending. We had every intention to give owners their due.

PANKAJ BHUJBAL, MLA