Mumbai: An old, defunct sanatorium and a villa in Deolali, Nashik, owned by a city-based trust, is at the centre of a dispute. After battling claims and petitions at different levels, including the Bombay High Court, the Maharashtra Waqf Board and the Charity Commissioner, the trust and the opponents of its sale plan await the waqf tribunal’s decision.Recently, in a viral video from the Deolali property, Ateeq Anwar Agboatwala, chairman of the Hajee Noor Mohammed Hajee Janmohammed Latiff Charities and owner of the property, was seen arguing with some locals at a religious structure on the property.“This is a three decade-old mosque on the property which Agboatwala wants to sell to a builder for Rs 27 crore, much less than the market value. I offered him Rs 29 crore, but he refused. If the property is sold to an outsider, the trust’s purpose will be defeated,” said advocate Yusuf Iqbal Yusuf, a member of the Halai Memon community.Agboatwala refuted the charges, accusing advocate Yusuf and his other opponents of making it a “communal issue”.“What our opponents could not get by legal means (cases were filed in the Bombay High Court, Charity Commission and Waqf Board), they are trying to achieve through illegal means,” alleged Agboatwala.When asked to clarify the claims by those opposed to the sale, including some residents of Deolali who have said in an affidavit that this is a mosque, Agboatwala vehemently dismissed it.“There is no Masjid. It is a prayer room that I built 15 years ago for the sanatorium inmates, and it was supposed to be kept locked (during non-namaz times),” said Agboatwala. “They are trying to intimidate me with a mob and disturb the law and order,” he added.Agboatwala also blamed the sanatorium’s caretaker, Zeeshan Khan, for instigating some locals in an attempt to “communalise the issue.”TOI contacted Zeeshan Khan who said his grandfather and father were also the caretakers. However, Khan did not respond to Agboatwala’s otherallegations, including “misuse of the property for political meetings.”“I want to utilise the money from its sale for scholarships for girls, preferably from the Memon community, studying professional courses,” he said.Before his passing in 1921, Latiff made his relative Hajee Agboatwala executor of his easte and, through a will, Latiff’s children got his two third property while one third became Latiff charities.The controversy has disturbedsome community leaders.“If the Waqf Board registered (in 2018) and de-registered it (in 2025), it doesn’t automatically give trustees the license to sell the property which was purchased for charity,” said Rauf Pathan, a trustee at the Byculla-based Khilafat House.Bandra resident and Congress leader Asif Farooqui said:”This is not an isolated case. I think the community should not waste its energy and resources fighting one individual or trust. We will have to fight the system which has made it so easy for Waqf properties to be made non-Waqf and sold to builders.”Though his opponents said he cannot sell the property, Agboatwala said he is on a stronger ground as the “writ petition filed by (advocate ) Iqbal Yusuf has been dismissed by the High Court on September 11, 2026.” He added that the Charity Commissioner permitted him to sell the property. “There is no stay by the High Court while the stay at the Waqf Tribunal is date by date until it decides.”
