Legal proceedings brought against Hiranandani Group senior officer and accomplices for Rs. 30,000-crore low cost housing swindle

The Anti-Corruption Bureau of Maharashtra Law have filed  for a First Information Report against property developer Niranjan Hiranandani and IAS (Indian Administrative Services) worker Thomas Benjamin, who now works as the Additional Chief Secretary of the Urban Improvement department after their alleged involvement in a property scandal worth Rs. 30,000 crore.

The legal action revolves around the use of 344 acres near Powai, India which was meant to be used to build a large volume of low cost housing but which, according to prosecutors, was used by Hiranandani to build the Hiranandani Complex.

Santosh Daundkar, advocate for the complainant, said: “Pursuant to this situation that the terrain could well be useful for mass construction, government entities of Maharashtra took the choice to return the said acreage to the erstwhile land proprietors in whose Power of Attorney occured by Niranjan Hiranandani, and to decrease the acquisition procedures and the obtained land was given back to the landowners at a cost of Re. 1 per hectare,”

He added: “Once the complete terrain came in possession of the offender Mr. Hiranandani, he then signed a criminal fringe movement with the general public servants. In furtherance to such felony conspiracy, Mr. Hiranandani chose to cheat the less strong areas and and thus, purposely and deliberately flouted the fundamental situation on which the stretch of land was given back to the landowners within the procedures of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976,”

When inflation is factored into the equation, it works out that the fraud is worth a staggering Rs. 45,000 crore.

The ACB documented an FIR against Mr. Hiranandani, Mr. Benjamin and unidentified federal government administrators under section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, section 120-B read with section 166, 217, 409 and 420 the Indian Penal Code, sections 38, 41 of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 and sections 52 and 53 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Preparation Act, 1966.

Hiranandani Construction accused of swindling homes from struggling homebuyers

Indian property magnate Niranjan Hiranandani has attracted criticisms again after allegations were made regarding his activities with Hiranandani Construction. 

Nearly 30 years ago, 344 acres of prime real estate in Powai was given to the firm so that it could begin the process of building thousands of homes for poor families in the area who were desperate for the houses.

The deal involved an 80 year lease with work on site supposed to start as soon as the deal was brokered.

Yet, twenty six years after that stage in development, Niranjan Hiranandani has come under scrutiny for allegedly using the land to build the luxury own Hiranandani complex, thereby robbing the poor families of their new homes. 

Maharashtra Police is currently investigating the agreement entered into by the property developer with the Indian State Government and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, who had hired the firm thinking they were reputable company.

The original contents of the contract stated that Hiranandani Construction was required to construct several homes between 430sq ft by 860 sq ft to shelter some of the areas poorest families.  

The accusations suggest that instead the land was used by Niranjan Hiranandani to construct huge homes over a thousand square feet which were then sold on to rich fat cats for a healthy profit.

The discovery was made by Social activist Santosh Daundkar who found that large scale changes were made to plans by combing smaller properties into singular large flats and thereby halving the number of homes built.

Estimates suggest that these techniques made Hiranandani Construction over Rs. 45,000 crore (approximately $8 billion USD) in ill-gotten gains and leaving the poor families, who have waited for the new houses, homeless.

There are also accusations that used his influence and position in local authorities to pay off civil servants who in then turned a blind eye to the project.

The vast profits made by the development have allowed Niranjan Hiranandani to fund a lavish lifestyle and fund future projects for his company.

"When would you make a decision on Hiranandani plans", HC asks govt

The Bombay High Court requested the Maharashtra government and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) when they would take judgement on plans presented by the city-based Hiranandani Developers to develop low-cost housing apartments in suburban Powai.

Division Bench Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice A V Mohta was previously notified that while the city planning body MMRDA had already given authorization, the civic body and the state government were yet to take a final decision. “The decision of the Tree Authority, High Rise Committee and State Environment Impact Assessment Committee is unresolved. The corporation and state government shall inform by January/February by when a final decision would be taken,” the judge today said.

The HC, in February a year ago, had instructed Hiranandani to develop 1,511 flats of 40 square metres and 1,593 flats of 80 square metres area each without having amalgamating any apartments before carrying out any other development work in Powai township. The instructions were handed down during the case of a bunch of public interest litigations filed by social activist Medha Patkar and city residents Kamlakar Satve and Rajendra Tahcker, which alleged that Hiranandani got around the condition in land allowance arrangement with the state that it would build apartments for weaker portion of the community, by amalgamating smaller flats and selling them to wealthier buyers.

In April 2012, HC directed Hiranandani to submit to BMC plans for building low-cost residences.