The Bombay high court in a recent order dismissed a petition that requested revocation of a “letter of administration” issued by the high court in 2009. The letter was given to US-based Avinash Ajgaonkar to claim a flat of his deceased parents. However, chartered accountant Prakash Bambardekar, who had filed the petition, claimed the ownership of the flat by referring to an alleged will given to him by the deceased.
Justice R.D. Dhanuka, while passing the order, said, “In my view, no case is made out of the ‘letter of administration’. The court having properly granted the letter in respect of the deceased’s flat in favour of Mr Ajgaonkar, it cannot be quashed. The petition is devoid of merits.”
The case dates back to 2002, when the deceased Sadashiv Ajgaonkar, who was the tenant of flat no 18, Samant Block in Andheri (west), was approached by a builder who proposed to develop the entire building.
Sadashiv, who died in 2003, had executed a “deed of declaration” to the developer accordingly. The developer had agreed to give a permanent alternate accommodation to the deceased (flat no A/501), measuring 628 square feet in the redeveloped building.
Bambardekar, however, in his petition claimed that he had been taking care of Sadashiv and his wife for a long time and was consequently handed over the ownership right of the said flat by both of them. He also added that there was an alleged “general power of attorney” that was acknowledged and signed by Avinash.
Avinash’s counsel had argued that the signature of the deceased Sadashiv on the alleged will and on the alleged declaration was fabricated. The counsel also submitted that the signature on the blank paper was given by Avinash to his father upon the death of his mother. The paper, he argued, was misued by Bambardekar. He also argued that the deceased was a practising advocate at the time of his death and would not execute documents in Marathi.
The court while passing the order said that the petitioner had approached the court to claim ownership after nine years of the death of Sadashiv and it was too long a time. Justice Dhanuka also stated that the flat was already transferred to Avinash in 2009. The court ruled that claiming rights for the flat after three years of passing of the “letter of administration” did not make sense.