The Bombay High Court has struck down an order by an arbitration tribunal directing veteran actor Dilip Kumar to give an undertaking to secure property worth Rs 25 crore in a dispute with a builder over his property at Pali Hill in Mumbai. The builder had claimed damages worth Rs 176 crore for terminating an agreement made in 2006 to redevelop his bungalow.
Kumar had signed an agreement with Sharyans Developers to redevelop the property in 2006. In 2010, the deal was handed over to Prajita Developers who filed a plea to restrain Kumar from creating third party rights after the actor backed out of the agreement in 2015. The case then reached the Supreme Court, which directed Kumar to pay Rs 20 crore to Prajita after the possession of the property was handed back to him. The court also appointed an arbitration tribunal to determine whether there was a breach of contract and if the developer was entitled to further damages. In 2018, it asked Kumar to furnish an undertaking of Rs 25 crore in the interim, which it has now struck down.
The Times of India quoted Justice Burgess Colabawala as saying, “Looking at it from any angle, the tribunal was wholly unjustified in directing Kumar to give an undertaking that he will not alienate or encumber or part with possession of the property which was subject matter of the arbitration to the extent of Rs 25 crore till the proceedings are concluded. It was irrelevant whether the undertaking was in respect of specific property or any other unencumbered personal property belonging to Kumar.”
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