DGP spared of land deal humiliation. Complainant withdraws case

An out-of-court settlement has been reached in a property deal that had gone sour and landed State Police Chief Sheikh Darvesh Saheb in trouble. On May 25, the Thiruvananthapuram Additional Sub Court had ordered the attachment of a property in the name of the Police Chief's wife for the violation of a sale contract entered into with a non-resident Keralite, Umar Sherif.

On July 3, Wednesday, Sherif filed an application in the court for the withdrawal of the case after he had received what he had sought as relief from the court: the entire Rs 30 lakh he had paid the police chief and his wife as advance, with interest. The case was scheduled to come up for hearing on July 6.

It was on June 22, 2023, that Sherif had signed an agreement with Farida Fathima, Sheikh Darvesh's wife, to buy 10.8 cents at Manikanteshwaram near Vattiyoorkavu in Thiruvananthapuram for Rs 74 lakh. Sherif had produced the agreement in court. The property was registered in Fathima's name, and the Police Chief had signed as witness to the deal.

Sherif had said in his complaint that Rs 15 lakh was paid on June 22, the day the deal was executed. Four days later, on June 26, an additional Rs 10 lakh was paid after Saheb and wife demanded an additional Rs 15 lakh. Sherif said that he had to borrow Rs 10 lakh from his friend. The proof was submitted in court. Barely a week later, on July 1, the remaining Rs 5 lakh was also paid. Darvesh Saheb acknowledged that Rs 30 lakh was received by stating this at the back of the sale agreement in his own handwriting.

At the time of inking the deal, Darvesh and his wife had told Sherif that the property was free of all encumbrances. This was included in the agreement, too. But whenever Sherif asked for the original title deed, his complaint stated that he was given "lame excuses" by the defendants to avoid producing the original deed.
Nonetheless, Sherif carried out an enquiry of his own and found that the land was pledged in the Thiruvananthapuram Althara branch of SBI for a loan. He also realised that more than Rs 26 lakh was due in the loan account.

Since this contradicted the written assurance in the agreement that the land was free of all encumbrances, Sherif issued a formal notice to the defendants on May 6 this year stating that he was not interested in the property and demanded that they repay Rs 30 lakh within ten days. The defendants refused to pay, causing Sherif to approach the court.

Sherif had forwarded the complaint to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also. Curiously, Saheb was given a one-year service extension when the Chief Minister's office was in possession of Sherif's complaint. Sources had told Onmanorama that top police officials, in an attempt to defuse the situation, had held mediatory talks with Sherif. It is said that Sherif had agreed to withdraw his complaint if his money was returned in full.