Amrohis game for property deal

A 35-year-old dispute between Meena Kumari’s stepson Tajdar Amrohi and residents of a housing society at Pali Hill is headed towards an amicable end with both sides agreeing for an out-of-court settlement that is said to include a proposal of a redevelopment project at the site. On Saturday, a Bandra court gave two weeks’ time to Tajdar and Cozihome society to work out the settlement. According to the residents of the complex, home to around 150 families, a deal has already been initiated and they have put forward their terms and conditions and were waiting for a response from the other side. According to the proposal, Mirror has learnt, a residential complex will be built at the disputed site, where flats will be given to the residents. It says that the developer will give the residents additional FSI (which is still being negotiated) and also a specified corpus of money. While the construction is underway, the residents will be given temporary alternate accommodations, where they will be able to maintain their current living standard. The developer will also pay extra amount per sq ft area for the rented residences. The charges of stamp duty and registration with respect to alternate accommodation will be borne by the developer as well. The proposal also declares that there shall be full endeavour on the developer’s part to avoid making open parking spaces in the upcoming redevelopment project and if there are planning constraints and open parking spaces are inevitable, then the same will be allotted to old members. Besides, the society members will be kept in the loop about the status of approval processes for the project. A detailed time period of construction and hand over of new flats to the members will be provided during the drafting of the development agreement. The residents of Cozihome, however, refused to comment, saying that the matter is sub-judice and under mediation. “This is a long-pending case. My parents have died fighting this dispute and I am continuing to do so in my old age. It’s high time that we settle it between ourselves so that everyone gets their due. The court has given two weeks’ time and we are hopeful that some settlement will be worked out,” said Tajdar. The dispute goes back to 1982 when Kamal Amrohi had filed a case, saying the society stood on the land belonging to his wife, actress Meena Kumari. Tajdar said that his father decided to go to the court after the residents did not pay the lease rent for years. After Meena Kumari and Kamal died, Tajdar and Kamal’s other son Shandar continued the battle.