PM's schoolmate will not get disputed land even after MLA cancels deal. Here's why

Even after BJP MLA Narendra Mehta cancelled his transaction and agreed to give up possession of the disputed plot, PM Modi's schoolmate Asgar Ali Vohra's decades-old land battle is far from over, with Swayam Developers refusing to hand over the Mira-Bhayandar property and citing a January court order in its favour.81-year-old former schoolmate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought a CBI investigation into a decades-old land dispute in Maharashtra’s Mira-Bhayandar.The decades-old land dispute involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s schoolmate Asgar Ali Vohra is far from over. Even as BJP MLA Narendra Mehta has cancelled his transaction over the disputed plot and agreed to give up possession, the land will still not go to Vohra, according to the developer.Swayam Developers, which is also involved in the dispute over the property in Maharashtra's Mira-Bhayandar, has said it will not hand over the land to Vohra, claiming that a court order passed in January this year was in its favour.Shefal Jain of Swayam Developers said Vohra had lost the case against the developer and had recently filed an appeal after the 90-day period. Jain said the court order clearly recorded that Vohra had failed to produce a power of attorney from the co-owner.“There is also no proof that Rs 1.51 lakh was paid by Vohra in 1989,” Jain said, adding that the developer has possession of the land, a court order in its favour and an agreement showing payment of Rs 1.16 crore. “We will take necessary legal action against Vohra,” Jain said.The fresh claim comes a day after Mehta said he was stepping away from the disputed property following a meeting with Vohra and senior Maharashtra government officials. Mehta said he had explained his position to Vohra and had decided to cancel the transaction between his company, Seven Eleven Constructions, and Mervyn Fernandes. He also withdrew his police complaint against Vohra.But Mehta clarified that cancelling his transaction does not mean the property will go to Vohra. According to him, the land will return to Fernandes, from whom he had purchased it.Mehta said he bought the property based on a court order that awarded 50 per cent of the plot to Fernandes, adding that the order had never been challenged and therefore formed the basis of his transaction.“If we will not buy based on court order, who else will we trust?” Mehta said.A DISPUTE DATING BACK DECADESThe controversy centres on around 2,810 square metres of land in Navghar, Bhayandar East. Vohra, 81, has maintained that he purchased the property through a registered agreement in 1989 and never sold or transferred it.He has alleged that forged documents were prepared in 2011 and that the land was later divided into two portions.One portion was shown as being with Swayam Builders, while the other was linked to Seven Eleven Constructions, a company associated with Mehta, according to Vohra.Vohra met PM Modi on September 8 and sought his intervention in the long-running dispute. He also alleged that officials in the municipal, revenue and police departments had failed to act on his complaints.The matter was subsequently taken up by senior Maharashtra government officials. On Tuesday, a meeting chaired by Chief Minister's Principal Secretary Shrikar Pardeshi was held at the state secretariat in the presence of Vohra, Mehta and senior Mira-Bhayandar civic officials.Following the meeting, Mehta wrote to the Town Planning Department saying he was relinquishing possession of the disputed land and returning the construction permission granted for it.He also wrote to the police commissioner, informing him that he was withdrawing his complaint against Vohra following a settlement. But that settlement has not ended the larger ownership dispute.Swayam Developers maintains that it has a separate and valid claim over the property based on the January court order, while Mehta says his transaction was based on a court order in favour of Fernandes.- EndsPublished By: Shipra ParasharPublished On: Sep 16, 2026 17:47 IST