If you have dared to bid and win an underworld don’s seized property in an auction, you could get some fame, you could present yourself as a patriot and perhaps some commandos could be deployed for your security. But what you are not likely to get is the property itself, which you have become the lawful owner of after your triumph in the auction hall. Such has been the experience of a few people who imperilled themselves to bid for Dawood Ibrahim’s properties and are now running from pillar to post to occupy them.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently ordered the Maharashtra Police to come up with a list of properties owned by members of underworld gangs. In the past, several central agencies like the Income Tax Department and Smuggling and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Authority (SAFEMA) have made such lists of Dawood Ibrahim’s gang. Based on these lists, auctions of Dawood’s properties have been arranged from time to time. However, the story of those who bid for and win such properties is marred by threats and red-tape.
Ajay Shrivastava, a Delhi-based lawyer and former Shiv Sainik, was furious when he saw a TV report in 2000 that no bidders turned out for the auction of Dawood Ibrahim’s property in south Mumbai’s Hotel Diplomat. It was inferred that it was because of the fear Dawood’s name invoked that nobody dared to bid for his property auctioned by the Income Tax department. Shrivastava appeared as the lone bidder in the next auctions held in 2001. He won two shops owned by Dawood’s gang on Jairajbhai Lane of Nagpada. Shrivastava told the media that he participated in the auction to convey a message to Dawood that there are people in India who don’t fear an anti-national like him. This followed a few alleged threat calls by the gang and the Delhi Police deployed armed guards for Shrivastava. His name was all over the news as somebody who took on the D-Company.
It has been over 20 years since the auction, but he could never get possession of the two shops. Once he went to inspect the property with the protection of the local police, but had to rush out because some people, allegedly Dawood’s men, mobbed him. Although the property has been registered in his name, it continued to be occupied by Dawood’s sister Haseena Parker. Shrivastava approached the Small Causes Court to get the possession, but the case dragged on for several years. Meanwhile, Haseena Parker died of a heart attack in July 2014. Shrivastava got the order in his favour nevertheless, but could not get hold of the property.
Shrivastava Not Alone
A similar case is of Delhi-based businessman Piyush Jain. Looking at the limelight that Shrivastava got after bidding for Dawood’s property, Jain and his brother too participated in the next auction and won two shops owned by the D-Company in the Nagpada area of Mumbai. Like Ajay Shrivastava, they too have been struggling to get possession of the shops. The property is yet to be registered in their names as the registrar’s office has imposed a heavy penalty on them for delayed application for registration. They have legally challenged the penalty and are making rounds of courts in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, Ajay Shrivastava participated in one more auction on Dawood’s property by SAFEMA in November 2020.
He won Dawood’s ancestral bungalow in the Mumbke village of Ratnagiri for Rs 11 lakh. However, he has still not occupied the property and the bungalow couldn’t be transferred to his name as an incorrect plot number was reportedly submitted by governmental officers during the auction. Now Shrivastava has to make rounds of Mumbai to get the error rectified. He intends to build a Sanatan Dharma Pathshala at Dawood’s bungalow, and some local right-wing activists have contacted him for the same.