The Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday roped in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe an alleged attempt to grab an NRI’s ₹30-crore property in Chandigarh’s upscale Sector 5.
The detailed order, passed by HC bench of justices Daya Chaudhary and Meenakshi Mehta, is awaited, but a number of lawyers associated with the case have confirmed the development.
The case came to light in August, when Padamjit Singh, 84, a former United Nations executive who lives in the US, alleged that a petition filed on July 8 using his name was not, in fact, filed by him.
The property — House No. 17 in Sector 5 — as later verified by the Chandigarh administration is owned 50% each by the NRI and his brother’s family. The July 8 plea had claimed that Singh never sold his 50% share of the property to a woman named Pritam Kaur. However, Singh’s affidavit in August stated that he had sold his share of property to the woman and that he had authorised none to file the July 8 plea.
When the lawyer appearing in the July 8 petition was questioned, he told court that the matter was brought to him by another lawyer and all requisite permissions to file the plea were obtained on mail. Subsequently, the HC had sought response from all parties involved, including family members of the NRI’s brother who had further given power of attorney to a third person, and the woman who had bought the property.
{{/usCountry}}When the lawyer appearing in the July 8 petition was questioned, he told court that the matter was brought to him by another lawyer and all requisite permissions to file the plea were obtained on mail. Subsequently, the HC had sought response from all parties involved, including family members of the NRI’s brother who had further given power of attorney to a third person, and the woman who had bought the property.
{{/usCountry}}On October 12, seeing gravity of the case, the HC had hinted at handing over the matter to the CBI and asked all the parties to complete their pleadings, further observing that not only the fraud is alleged to have been played by the parties in different manners, but a tactic has also been adopted just to cheat the other parties.