• Muriuki did not give any explanation to court as to why the matter was being withdrawn where the accused persons lawyer George Wajackoyah did not object to the application.
• Wajackoyah informed the court that Ganatra was not present in court since he had traveled to India to receive medical treatment.
Image: FILE
The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) has withdrawn a case in which a businessman was charged with Sh180 million land dispute.
Prosecutor Sammy Muriuki appeared before Resident magistrate Manuela Kinyanjui on Wednesday where Bhogilal Chotalal Ganatra and Bhupesh Harshardray Rana were charged on February 18, 2021 by a Kiambu court that on May 30, 2008 conspired to defraud MS HP Youtan and company limited of a parcel of land valued at Sh180 million.
Ganatra and Rana denied the charges and were released on a cash bail of Sh2 million each pending the hearing of their case.
Muriuki did not give any explanation to court as to why the matter was being withdrawn where the accused persons lawyer George Wajackoyah did not object to the application.
Wajackoyah informed the court that Ganatra was not present in court since he had traveled to India to receive medical treatment and applied for the accused cash bail to be returned back to the accused.
Magistrate Manuela in her judgment granted the prosecutors application for withdrawal and also granted Wajackoyah's application for Sh2 million each cash bail to be returned to the accused persons.
Rana had in March this year written to the DPP to review the file because it related to a commercial transaction that took place 13 years ago.
In the letter, the accused persons had argued that they are only involved because they received a power of attorney from the actual owner of the disputed quarter of an acre of land in Westlands, Westlands Road next to Standard Chartered bank.
Wajackoyah said his clients were granted power of attorney by the late Kantilal Maganbhai Patel on February 28, 2008.
This was notarised in the UK and later registered in Kenya on August 8, 2008, by a registrar called BF Atieno.
“Patel swore an affidavit on May 4, 2010, to confirm that he granted Bhupesh Rana and Bhogilal Ganatra the power of attorney,” the letter read in part.
Patel reportedly endorsed the decision of Rana and Ganatra to renew the lease and sell the land to Fairmile Investments.
According to Wajackoyah’s letter, Patel denies selling the land in dispute to the late Ratilal Sanghani.
He said he had only requested Patel to manage the property for him when he left for the UK in 1977.
After Ratilal’s death, Patel’s wife came to Kenya and instructed Rana and Ganatra to dispose of the property.
On October 24, 2008, they entered into a sale agreement with Fairmile Investment.
However, on January 29, 2009, Rajendra Sanghani and Jayant Rach filed a civil suit to block them from accessing the land.
Wajackoyah claimed that the company H.P Youtan and Company, which is a complainant in the latest criminal case, was dissolved on March 23, 2007.
He added that Rajendra was never a director or a shareholder at H.P Youtan.
The accused persons had told the court that the complainants in the case were only harassing them to force them to surrender the land. They had also made a report at the Central Police Station against one complainant whom they accused of threatening them on phone.