Kalpataru wins 14-year-old court battle for prime Worli mill plot

The Bombay high court (HC) has decided a 14-year-old legal battle over a prime parcel of land at Worli and ruled that it would have to be handed over to Kalpataru Properties for Rs 105 crore as per a deal struck in 2004. The HC dismissed appeals filed against orders of the arbitral tribunal and a single judge directing Shree Ram Urban Infrastructure Private Limited (SRUIPL) and Vijay Infrastructure Technologies (VIT)-both sister concerns of the S Kumar Group owned by the Kasliwal family-to honour the 2004 agreement. SRUIPL is the owner of over 16 acres of mill land in Worli and had granted development rights to VIT over a portion. In June 2004, they signed a MoU with Kalpataru, giving it rights to develop over five acres. Kalpataru claimed to have paid around Rs 30 crore as advance. The realtor proposed to construct an "iconic building" designed by architect Hafeez Contractor, according to court papers. Kalpataru approached the tribunal in December 2005 to enforce the agreement, while SRUIPL and VIT filed a counter claim and sought damages of over Rs 760 crore. In 2016, the tribunal ruled in favour of Kalpataru, and a single judge of the HC upheld the order. SRUIPL and VIT challenged the orders. They claimed that the realty firm was not willing and ready to perform its part of the contract and had failed to furnish bank guarantees of Rs 57 crore within the deadline. The firm rejected the contentions and said it was always ready to perform its part of the obligations and no time limits were agreed between the parties.