HC strikes down LOC against former MP, builder Akhtar Rizvi

Bombay HC quashes LOC against ex-MP Akhtar Hasan Rizvi over alleged ₹2.8 crore fraud in Kalina real estate project. Rizvi deposited ₹6 crore, case involves cheating charges.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Thursday quashed a look out circular (LOC) against former member of Parliament and prominent builder Akhtar Hasan Rizvi, who allegedly cheated an investor in his real estate project in Kalina of ₹2.8 crore. The LOC was issued at the behest of the economic offences wing (EOW), which was directed to inform the Bureau of Immigration about the cancellation of the LOC.

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A bench comprising justices Revati Mohite Dere and Manjusha Deshpande passed the order after the assistant public prosecutor representing the EOW conveyed that they did not have any objection to the quashing of the LOC. Rizvi’s counsel, senior advocate Rajiv Chavan, informed the court that his client had already deposited ₹6 crore against the ₹2.8 crore allegedly defrauded from the complainant.

The project in Kalina where the investor bought office space was initiated in 2012 under Rizvi Land Developments Pvt Ltd. While the company was merged with Rizvi Estates and Hotels Private Limited, the investor discovered later that the project was converted into a residential complex.

The case against Rizvi, 81, was originally registered at the Vakola police station and later transferred to the EOW in Mumbai. The charges against him include cheating and other offenses under the Maharashtra Ownership of Flats (Regulation of the promotion of construction, sale, management, and transfer) Act, 1963.

Notably, the court had intervened twice earlier to suspend the LOC against Rizvi, enabling his medical treatment and daughter’s engagement. The court has already granted him pre-arrest bail in a separate case registered on a complaint by Junaid Khan, a resident of Bandra, who alleged that he and others had invested ₹5.6 crore for office premises in a project owned by Rizvi, only to discover later that it was converted into a residential complex.