No happy home for Abhijeet
Abhijeet Sawant is in trouble over a property deal. The first Indian Idol wanted to buy a 3-BHK flat at Happy Home Apartments in Vile Parle (East) for Rs85 lakh.
According to Sawant, he paid builder Sunil Bagaria Rs35 lakh as advance, but when his family went to the flat for a griha-pravesh puja, other residents of the building created a scene. "They came and said the builder had bought the area for the flat from them but not paid them the money," Sawant said.
When Sawant confronted the builder and demanded his money back, the latter refused. Instead, he told Sawant to pay the rest and take possession of the flat.
"After much discussion it was decided that the builder would sell the place to someone else and return our money," he said. "But it's almost a year now. Meanwhile, we found a new house at a cheaper rate (Rs70 lakh) in the same area."
Sawant has not filed a complaint against the builder because he says his family does not want to get into a legal tangle. He denied that the reluctance had anything to do with the 'colour' of the funds.
Bagaria has a different tale. "Sa-want bought my flat for Rs85 lakh and gave me Rs35 lakh as advance. The family was to pay the rest in 10 days. In fact they did a griha puja. But then we learnt that he had bought another flat for Rs1 crore because his girlfriend liked it."
Bagaria, who is also a lawyer, said he had put the flat on sale because he needed money. "We made changes to suit Sawant," he said. "We spent Rs25 lakh on the interiors. I had to take a loan of Rs65 lakh because I needed money then. And he goes for another flat."
Bagaria said it was mutually agreed that he would deduct the money spent on the flat and return the rest. "Sawant is due Rs10 lakh, but he is refusing to take it for the past six months."
Bagaria claimed that Sawant's father had been threatening him using Raj Thackeray's name. "In fact I got a call from Raj Thackeray's office recently to return Sawant's money," he said.
