HC stays demolition of Sai Resorts in relief to aide of Sena (UBT) MLC

Strap: Court says a retired partner cannot file a private complaint, seeks respondents’ replies in two weeks The Bombay high court has stayed a demolition notice issued to Sai Resorts in Dapoli, owned by Sadanand Kadam, a close associate of Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab

Strap: Court says a retired partner cannot file a private complaint, seeks respondents’ replies in two weeks

Murud, India - March 26, 2022: Sai Resort, alleged by Kirit Somaiya that the resort is owned by the State Transport Minister and Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab, who has denied any connection to the said resort and threatened to move court against the BJP leader for maligning his image, in Murud, India, on Saturday, March 26, 2022. ((Photo by Anil Phalke/HT Photo) (Hindustan Times)

The Bombay high court has stayed a demolition notice issued to Sai Resorts in Dapoli, owned by Sadanand Kadam, a close associate of Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab. The notice was issued by the additional district collector of Ratnagiri on December 6, 2023.

Kadam’s counsel argued before a single-judge bench of justice Milind Jadhav on January 5 that issues arose following the joint purchase of the Dapoli plot in 2007 with three other partners. The dispute was settled via a consent award in May 2017. After this resolution, the partners retired from the partnership, thereby entitling Kadam to the plot, Kadam’s lawyer said.

Subsequently, Kadam applied for and received non-agricultural status for the property in August 2021, after which the resorts were constructed. However, on October 26, 2023, he received a show cause notice from the additional collector for property demolition based on a private complaint by one of the retired partners who cited violation of the non-agricultural permissions granted to Kadam.

The additional collector, after hearing Kadam, revoked the non-agricultural status and issued a demolition notice on December 6 when the appeal against the show cause notice was still pending before the collector.

Justice Jadhav said the partner, having retired from the partnership, lacked grounds to file such a private complaint and stayed the demolition notice, “deeming the case’s circumstances as ‘innocuous’ warranting the intervention of the court to ensure that no litigant or party can take advantage of the legal system for granted”.

The court granted the respondents – revenue authorities and the retired partner – two weeks to file their replies. The matter will again be heard on February 2.

Kadam is presently in judicial custody in connection with financial irregularities linked to the construction of the resorts in an Enforcement Directorate case. A special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court recently rejected his bail application.