UP Man Buys Dawood Ibrahim’s Mumbai Property During Auction, Gets Possession After 23-Year-Long Legal Battle

Hemant Jain, who is now 57, purchased the property back in September 2001 during an income tax department auction, paying Rs 2 lakh for the shop on Jayraj Bhai Street, Mumbai.

A man from UP bought a shop owned by Dawood Ibrahim in Mumbai and got its possession after a 23-year-long legal battle.

Around 23 years ago, a 34-year-old man Hemant Jain came across a 144-square-foot shop in Mumbai's Napada area, a property he saw as an opportunity to defy the shadow of the underworld. He had read about the property in a newspaper and made up his mind to bid it. "I bid for the property after reading in a newspaper that Dawood's properties weren't attracting buyers," he said. 

However, this started a long journey of complications which got him entangled in a legal battle spanning over two decades, all of which was happening as the piece of property was tied to one of the most norotious underworld figures, Dawood Ibrahim.

Jain, who is now 57, purchased the property back in September 2001 during an income tax department auction, paying Rs 2 lakh for the shop on Jayraj Bhai Street. But his celebration didn't last long as he was misled by officials who claimed there was a ban on transferring Centre-owned properties. "Later, I found no such ban existed," he said, Times of India reported.

He said that the I-T department claimed the "original files were missing," which left the ownership transfer process in limbo. He even wrote repeated letters to the Prime Minister's Office spanning the tenures of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh, and Narendra Modi over the years but there was no progress, the report said.

The property file vanished entirely by 2017 and Jain was asked to pay stamp duty on the basis of the existing market value, which by this time had soared to more than Rs 23 lakh. Additionally, registration fees and penalties added on to his financial woes. "Since the property was bought in the auction, the stamp duty should not have been calculated as per the market value," he argued. "I kept following up with the registrar's office for several years but received no response."

But Jain remained undeterred and paid Rs 1.5 lakh in stamp duty and penalties. Finally, on Dec 19, 2024, the property was registered in his name. "I won't abandon this fight. Now that the property is in my name, I will also secure possession," he said.

Despite the long battle, Jain's victory remains incomplete as the property is still occupied by alleged henchmen of Dawood, who have turned the shop into a lathe machine workshop. "Authorities advised me to forget about the property and live peacefully. But we villagers don't know fear. A man from the village is like a banyan tree strong against all winds," a resolute Jain said.

The shop was seized as part of government's crackdown on Dawood Ibrahim's empire and was among many other assets attached under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA). Jain and his elder brother, Piyush, were the first ones to buy such a property, encouraging others to follow suit, TOI reported.

After Jain's case came to light, political leaders like Samajwadi Party's national general secretary Ramjilal Suman and former MLA Azeem Bhai wrote to the state government, recommending that he be honoured for his courage. But for Jain the fight is above the shop possession. "The primary reason I bought this property was to challenge Dawood Ibrahim's dominance," he said.