Merlin Niyasa comprises more than 150 high-end apartments priced at between Rs 3.8 crore and Rs 4.8 crore and is said to be located off the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, and is located close to Ruby Hospital and Taj Vivanta hotel.
The Merlin group and its Chairman Sushil Mohta are once again embroiled in a land dispute where it is alleged that in collusion with a former director of the DC Paul Group, Merlin had fraudulently entered into a Joint Development Agreement in respect of a valuable plot of land in the city’s Anandapur area, where the Rs 600-crore Merlin Niyasa project is coming up.
Holding that a prima facie case had been made out, Mr Subhradip Mitra, District Judge, South 24 Paraganas, has in an order dated 6 December, restrained the former Director, Shanti Ranjan Paul, and Merlin Projects, and their men and assigns, from acting in terms of the JDA and a Power of Attorney executed in favour of Merlin by Paul until 7 January 2026.
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The petitioners, D C Paul Group Construction Private Limited and Adhira Commercial Private Limited, have alleged that Shanti Ranjan Paul, on the basis of forged documents – a Memorandum of Agreement and a Board Resolution – had executed the JDA with Merlin, and executed a power of attorney in favour of Mohta’s company.
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The petitioners alleged that Merlin knew or ought to have known that Paul never had the authority to execute the JDA or POA, as these were the result of forgery, fraud and deception, and that there was thus an obvious nexus between the two.
It was alleged that Merlin as a seasoned real estate developer knew fully that Paul was neither a shareholder or director of the plaintiff companies. The plaintiffs said: “But for the collusion and conspiracy, Defendant No. 2 (Merlin), without verification of the plaintiff’s directors and shareholders, would not have in the normal course entered into such JDA and the POA.”
Merlin Niyasa comprises more than 150 high-end apartments priced at between Rs 3.8 crore and Rs 4.8 crore and is said to be located off the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, and is located close to Ruby Hospital and Taj Vivanta hotel.
Two other major projects of Mohta’s group are under a cloud. In August, a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court had ordered demolition of a 26-storeyed tower promoted by Mohta and two others in New Town, Kolkata, and ordered criminal proceedings. In September, another Division Bench had issued notice on a Public Interest Litigation seeking to halt all construction at Merlin Avana, a project promoted by Mohta in the Barisha area.
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