Prestige Group head Irfan Razack buys a 4000-sq ft plot once owned by the late Ambaram Fakirbhai. The property is just a block away from a shop from where the rags-to-riches story of the construction group began

Virgin land in the heart of the city is priceless. Those with ramshackle old buildings on them command a hefty price. But the benchmark was raised on Monday when a plot on upscale Commercial Street was sold for Rs 62,500 per square foot — the highest in the city so far.

Irfan Razack, head of the Prestige Group, the top realty firm, purchased the 4,000-sq ft plot from the heirs of late Ambaram Fakirbhai, the textile businessman who once owned large swathes of land in the area now known as Indiranagar. Razack was the lone bidder in the auction.

The plot, which bears municipal registration numbers 15 and 16 and includes a dilapidated building, was bought for a staggering Rs 25 crore at a public auction. This is the second largest realty deal in Bangalore in the last fortnight; the previous one was an eight-acre plot in Koramangala which sold for Rs 345 crore.

“The going rate around Commercial Street is in the Rs 40,000 – 45,000 per sq ft range,” a realtor who monitors transactions in the central business district said. “But the Ambaram deal is a real stunner.”

The Prestige Group are not saying what they plan to do with the plot just as yet, but a source said, “The area is close to the hearts of the Prestige Group founders as they started with a cloth shop on Commercial Street close to the Ambaram plot. By buying land a stone’s throw away from their old store, they have shown that they want to stay attached to their Commercial Street roots.”

Confirming the transaction, Razack told Bangalore Mirror, “The property is very close to my property – Prestige Men’s Store. I bought this because there is only one property between this and our property. The Prestige Men’s Store is a family business run by me and my brothers (two of them). It was a matter of pride to buy a property on this street.”

On the exorbitant price, Razack indicated that he had little choice. “The court had fixed a minimum price of Rs 25 crore for the property,” Razack said. “We were the only ones to participate in the bidding as two others who had registered their names, didn’t participate. Though the price is on the higher side, I don’t think I will regret my decision five years later. It is a family deal and my company has no role in this. This was a personal decision.”

The auction brought the curtains down on a 43-year-old feud by heirs of Ambaram over the land. “Since the heirs could not reach a consensus on sharing the prime property, the court decided to auction it,” sources said.

According to the copies accessed by Bangalore Mirror, the original propositus was Ambaram Fakir Bhai. He married Jeeva Bai and after her death, he married Girija Bai. They had six sons — Thakurdas, A Venilal, A Ramanlal, A Sukhlal, A Krishna, A Narayan — and five daughters — Umiya Ben, Vichkore Ben, Parvathi Ben, Narmada Ben and Tara Ben.

After the death of Ambaram, his eldest daughter, Vichkore Ben, filed a suit for partition of her 1/12 share in the estate left behind by her father. Though the suit was still pending, she sold her right, title and interest in favour of four of her brothers — Krishna, Venilal, Sukhlal and Narayan. Similarly the other four daughters received a certain sum of money from these four brothers in lieu of their share in full and final settlement. Thakurdas and Ramanlal were each allotted 1/7th share.

The above suit culminated in final decree proceedings initiated by Thakurdas in 1981. A commissioner was appointed to work out the modalities of actual partition. He reported to the High Court that the properties were not divisible and that it should be disposed in a public auction. Dispute arose in regard to the mode of partition of shop premises No 15/15, Commercial Street and premises No 27 F, E and D of Hospital Road. It resulted in a civil revision petition before the High Court (CRP No 2920/1973).

All the brothers, however, had reached an agreement that Thakurdas and Ramanlal were to be given first option to purchase 5/7 share of the parties to the suit by depositing Rs 10.71 lakh in the trial court on or before November 14, 1974. When they failed to deposit the amount, the other brothers – Venilal, Sukhlal, Narayan and Krishna — purchased the share of Thakurdas and Ramanlal by depositing a sum of Rs 1.75 lakh each.

Since the four brothers did not have funds, they had obtained a loan from Vijaya Bank to buy their bothers’ shares. It was also agreed that immediately after the purchase of share of Thakurdas and Ramanlal’s shares, premises bearing No 15 and No 16 of Commercial Street and premises No 27 F, E and D of Hospital Road will be substituted as security for the repayment of the loan in place of the individual properties of Venilal and Sukhlal.

Property was locked for 15 years

The three brothers entered into possession in April 1976, while another brother, Narayana, took actual possession of the entire premises in 1978. But he kept the premises under lock and key for 15 years, rendering it unfit for human habitation. Moreover the loan obtained from Vijaya Bank had not been repaid despite repeated reminders. A fresh suit was filed in 1991 for partition of the property. The suit was contested and during the pendency of the suit, two brothers, Venilal and Sukhlal, died.

During the pendency of appeal, parties decided to settle the matter amicably and they filed a compromise petition before the High Court on September 5, 2005. The court decided to auction the property.

Earlier bids unsuccessful

The court’s reserve price for the Commercial Street property was set at Rs 12 crore, while that of the Hospital Road properties was Rs 6 crore. All bids were to commence for a price higher than the reserve price indicated above.

Advocate K N Krishna Rao, representing the family members of Ambaram, told Bangalore Mirror, “During 2005, the Hospital Road property was sold for Rs 18 crore at an auction, but there was no buyer for the Commercial Street property. The Commercial Street property was again put up for auction in 2008 and again there were no bidders. Finally on Monday, the auction was conducted with the initial bid amount of Rs 25 crore and if was successful.”

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Cove Story / by Atul Chaturvedi, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / July 23rd, 2014