Mom's FIR against Sheetal Mafatlal for `trespassing'

MUMBAI: Nirlon matriarch Rajni Bhagat, freed from the concern of the possible arrest of one of her socialite daughters, Poonam, in a poisoning case filed by husband Jaidev Shroff, shifted her focus a day later to her other socialite daughter, Sheetal Mafatlal. On Thursday evening, Rajni filed an FIR at Khar police station against Sheetal for house break and trespassing into 38, Pali Hill, a bungalow in tony Bandra.
In a late evening showdown on Thursday , the 76-year-old sought help from Khar police to remove Sheetal and her six bouncers from the bungalow. Rajni, in her FIR said she is the “owner of the property“ and that its possession is rightfully hers.
Rajni, who trained her guns on Sheetal for her “illegal entry and occupation in my absence“, reached the bungalow with some policemen. Sheetal's lawyer Yusuf Iqbal said his client was issued a notice asking her to go to the police station on Friday . Sheetal's security staff left the premises and eventually , both mother and daughter remained. Police recorded the FIR against Sheetal, who is married to industrialist Atulya Mafatlal, by 10pm, said sources.
“Rajni Bhagat's possession of the bungalow has been restored,“ said her advocate Francisco D'Souza. who was at the site with her other lawyer Prashant Pawar. But Iqbal said, “ After the police left, Poonam Bhagat entered the premises with five men and started breaking Sheetal's possessions and tried to hit her and lock her inside. Sheetal will register a complaint against Poonam for grave assault. She has been dialling 100 and even 103 for assistance as she is not allowed to leave.“ He added police came to the bungalow at night in response to Sheetal's call.
But D'Souza said, “Sheetal is locking herself up in the room and concocting stories. Poonam has not done anything to her and is only there to support her mother.“
Sheetal's case is that her maternal grandfather was the original tenant of the spacious premises in the 1960s and she is a legal heir and co-tenant of the bungalow, which is now owned by a company in which mother and daughters are shareholders. The Bandra small causes on Wednesday did not grant her plea against being thrown out as the judge wanted to also hear her mother and sister before passing any protective order. The next hearing is on April 30.
Mayank Chandan, another lawyer for Sheetal, said, “The court order clearly observes Sheetal is the legal heir and a shareholder of the company , Pali Manor, which owns the property .“
Sheetal has been camping at the bungalow since her entry on Monday . Poonam was living elsewhere along with their mother till Wednesday , while fighting a legal battle to prevent arrest as Jaidev accused her of poisoning him and has filed a divorce case against her.