Shah Rukh Khan's Alibaug bungalow attached, labelled 'benami'

Mumbai, Jan 31: The I-T department has provisionally attached actor Shah Rukh Khan's bungalow in Alibaug by terming it benami property and filed a report before an adjudication authority to confirm the attachment.

Khan needs to file a reply before the authority within 90 days. Once the adjudication authority confirms the attachment, I-T authorities can initiate criminal action too.

The attachment notice was issued last month to Deja Vu Farms under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act. As per the website of the Registrar of Companies, Deja Vu Farms Pvt Ltd was incorporated on December 29, 2004, with interests in crops, gardening and horticulture. Namita Chhiba, Ramesh Chhiba and Savita Chhiba are named as its directors.

The 7/12 land extracts show the bungalow stands on four plots (118/1/A and B, 188/2, 188/3, 188/4) in Thal village, and Moreshwar Ajgaonkar, a director of Deja Vu Farms, is mentioned as property owner.

The farmhouse covers 19,960 sq m and has a swimming pool and private helipad. Khan gave an unsecured loan of Rs 8.5 crore to Deja Vu Farms, officials said.

The department alleged the unsecured loan was used by Deja Vu for purchasing land. This land in Thal was agricultural and meant for farming, so Ajgaonkar claimed he was an agriculturist, an official said. The land was transferred in the company's name with the condition that it will be used for farming within three years.

In 2011, Namita Chhiba was appointed director of Deja Vu in place of Ajgaonkar. Ramesh Chibba, Savita Chibba, and Namita Chibba are Khan's father-in-law, mother-in-law and sister-in-law respectively, I-T authorities said.

The Alibaug tehsildar's office found a swimming pool developed on the plot without permission and served a notice for violation of CRZ rules.

Alibaug tehsildar Prakash Sakpal said I-T officials had taken away the 7/12 land extracts. A farm land shed (built in 1986) had earlier been there, but a swimming pool constructed on the plot (188/1/B) later led to the serving of notices for violating CRZ rules, Sakpal said.

In November 2017, Raigad collector Dr Vijay Suryavanshi had said that SRK's bungalow was among 87 which had allegedly flouted CRZ rules.