The nearly century-old CKP Sabha building at Shivaji Park in Dadar is scheduled to be auctioned on October 14 over outstanding bank loans and municipal property tax, prompting members to call a special general meeting to seek ways to stop or defer the sale.
The auction has been announced by Thaney Bharat Cooperative Bank Ltd and Janakalyan Cooperative Bank in connection with loans taken for the redevelopment of the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu Sabha institution’s building. The property has a reserve price of ₹35 crore, while the total outstanding dues are estimated at about ₹11.5 crore.
According to the auction notice cited in the report, the banks’ loan-related dues stood at ₹8.31 crore as of July 31, 2024. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has also claimed ₹2.27 crore in property tax and initiated attachment proceedings against the building. The notice states that the Bombay High Court has stayed the municipal attachment notice.
The building, which remains partially constructed, was put up for auction by the banks to recover the unpaid loan amount. The special general meeting has been scheduled for October 4 at the CKP Hall office on the first floor in Dadar. Members are expected to discuss measures to stop or postpone the auction, complete the remaining construction work and address the institution’s financial obligations.
Members’ lawyers have challenged the banks’ action. Advocates and solicitors Ajit Tamhane, Gunjan Tamhane and Rohan Tamhane have objected to the auction notice, arguing that the proposed sale amounts to misuse of legal process and is not binding on the CKP Sabha. Their objection relies on an order issued by the Charity Commissioner on February 28, 2019.
The order reportedly permitted the trust to raise a loan of ₹16 crore from Thaney Bharat Cooperative Bank to construct the building. However, the members’ legal representatives claim that the order did not permit the trust’s property to be mortgaged or a mortgage deed to be created over the building. They have therefore argued that the mortgage deed executed by the bank on June 6, 2019, was illegal and that the bank does not have the authority to auction the property.
Advocate Yash Juvatkar, representing the applicants, said they would approach the Charity Commissioner and the Debt Recovery Tribunal in the matter. The legal challenge could determine whether the banks can proceed against the trust property under the mortgage arrangements cited in the auction notice.
Former CKP Sabha president Advocate Nachiket Jaywant said a proposal to sell space on the ground floor reserved for a bank had been placed before the general body in August 2023. Members opposed the proposal, which could have raised between ₹9 crore and ₹10 crore, he said. A committee was subsequently formed to suggest alternatives, but no solution was proposed, according to Jaywant.
CKP Sabha president Nilesh Vaidya said the October 4 meeting had been convened to discuss measures to halt or defer the auction, provide members with information and examine how the incomplete work could be finished. The auction is currently scheduled for October 14.
