Bail denied to fraud who posed as Mantralaya employee to sell cheap MHADA flats

Bombay HC denies anticipatory bail to Raj Hiralal Shah for orchestrating a ₹93 lakh housing scam by posing as a Mantralaya employee.

Mumbai: The Bombay high court recently denied the anticipatory bail plea of Raj Hiralal Shah, who posed as a Mantralaya employee to orchestrate a ₹93 lakh housing scam. The accused allegedly duped multiple victims by promising them MHADA flats at discounted rates, leveraging fraudulent claims of government connections.

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Justice Sarang V Kotwal heard detailed accounts of Shah’s alleged fraud. An FIR was lodged by Pradipkumar Solanki, who was introduced to Shah by an acquaintance in 2021, who said that Shah claimed he could secure MHADA flats in Mahavir Nagar, Kandivali, from the chief minister’s quota. Shah assured Solanki that he could obtain 475 sq ft flats for ₹33 lakh each, significantly below market rates, in exchange for an initial ‘process fee’ of ₹2 lakh.

Solanki, his son-in-law, and his son agreed to purchase three flats and paid Shah ₹17.5 lakh via cheques and cash. One of the cheques was deposited in Shah’s wife’s account. Shah provided documents purportedly stamped by the chief minister’s office to substantiate his claims. However, in November 2021, Solanki received a letter stating the flat allocation was cancelled. Subsequent inquiries revealed that Shah had no affiliation with Mantralaya and that the operation was a scam.

Shah’s defence claimed he was manipulated by a third party, Mahendra Gore, and had himself sought a flat through legitimate means, presenting a 2018 letter to the chief minister as evidence. However, the court found this unconvincing, given the substantial evidence of Shah’s direct involvement in the fraud.

Justice Kotwal, stressing the severity of the offences and the necessity for thorough custodial interrogation, denied Shah’s anticipatory bail application, underscoring the substantial monetary losses suffered by the victims due to Shah’s fraudulent scheme.