National

Lack of evidence of payments against property purchase

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JUNE 21. The forfeiture of a Mumbai-based property belonging to the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim Shaikh has been ordered under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, 1976 (SAFEMA).

The Appellate Tribunal for Forfeited Property, which issued the order, was headed by Justice Eswara Prasad and comprised Devendra Narain and A.M. Prasad (both former officers of the Revenue Department).

The judgment pertains to Zahoor Islam Shaikh and 15 others who projected themselves as holders of the property to make it appear that they were not benami holders or mere name-lenders while the property actually belonged to Dawood Ibrahim Shaikh.

The proclaimed offender, Dawood Ibrahim, had been booked under COFEPOSA in October 1992. However, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence tipped off the competent authority in Mumbai about the property in question that this belonged to Dawood Ibrahim and SAFEMA proceedings were initiated for forfeiture of the property.

But neither Dawood nor his family members came forward to contest the proceedings. Instead, a person Zahoor Islam Shaikh claimed that the property belonged to Yasmin Vanjara and that he had bought it from her by making two payments — one in April 1991 and the other in August 1999 and that 15 others had contributed different sums for construction of additional floors on the building.

Investigations showed no evidence of payments of any amounts by Zahoor Islam to Yasmin Vanjara and the manner in which the rights in the property were created in favour of the appellant were found to be highly suspicious.

Importantly, this particular property was assessed in the name of Dawood in 1991 and was also attached for recovery of income tax arrears.

When it was sought to be auctioned for recovery of income tax, none of the appellants raised any dispute or protest indicating that neither the appellants nor Yasmin Vanjara had real interest in the property. he tribunal came to the conclusion that the property was, in fact, bought by Dawood Ibrahim Shaikh from Yasmin Vanjara through Zahoor Islam and the property was held by Dawood through the appellants who have been described by the tribunal as "his henchmen''.

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