Source :Thepeninsulaqatar:Friday, 29 April 2011 03:49
by Moiz Mannan
Slogans like ‘India Shining’, ‘Incredible India’ and ‘Jago India’ sound very nice, says a website dedicated to legal matters of non-resident Indians, but it is high time the government provided succor to its diaspora in matters that really hurt.
Real estate is one of them.
Every few days one now one is hearing heart-rending stories of hapless NRIs being defrauded or robbed of their property back home by unscrupulous elements, even relatives.
Sitting thousands of miles away, there is very little the overseas Indian can do.
Very recently, the Punjab Newsline reported the case of Kulwant Kaur, an NRI from Canada, who was shocked to know that some people grabbed her land in the name of religion.
When she went to complain regarding this in the local police station, she was stunned to discover that a false case instead had been registered against her by those persons. On verification, the entire land and property was found to carry her name as the owner and the case was shut.
The woman, along with her son, has alleged non-cooperation by senior police officials. This case has been pending from last 19 months and no action has yet been taken by the police. The miscreants continue to threaten the owners and the owners continue to make rounds and rounds of the police stations in hope of some justice.
In another case, a local consumer forum in Chandigarh has directed a real estate giant to pay a compensation of`100,000 to an NRI couple for causing mental harassment and delay in handing over possession of a flat purchased by them.
The agreement was executed in November 2006 for a 4 bedroom apartment and possession was to be handed over within 30 months from the date of construction. However, no offer of possession was received until 2009.
According to complainants, despite the commitments and the fact that sale consideration was paid by January 2007, the company failed to deliver possession.
Earlier this month, a US-based NRI was defrauded by a trio of real estate agents in Navi Mumbai. The tricksters duped him with forged ownership papers and even fake keys to his ‘dream home’ in Vashi.
According to police the NRI, Kumar, approached a real estate agent in Navi Mumbai in December with the intention of buying five flats in the satellite city. The agent introduced him to the three fraudsters.
The trio showed Kumar a 1,200-sqft flat which he liked and the deal was finalised at `2.8m. They showed Kumar all the documents related to the flat and asked for `1.6m as token payment. When he paid, the documents and a set of keys for the flat were handed over to him with the promise that he would get possession in March.
Kumar smelt something fishy, however, when he did not hear from them again.
He went to the registrar’s office in the area and was told that the documents were forged. Investigation has revealed that the trio are part of a gang of nearly 40 members, which has a noted real estate agent as the kingpin.
The group not only forged ownership documents but also did franking by themselves and even forged pan cards, ration cards, electricity bills and receipts to obtain bank loans.
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