I don’t want Asha Bhosle’s garden: Sadhana

I don’t want Asha Bhosle’s garden: Sadhana

Veteran actress Sadhana denies she had encroached on extra space in the singer’s Khar bungalow, where she has been a tenant for 50 years

The last three years haven't been exactly peaceful for yesteryear actress Sadhana Nayyar, who chose to stay away from public glare following her retirement. In 2010, she filed an FIR against a fellow tenant at her Khar bungalow for threatening her.

Last year, the cops investigating the case went as far as calling her a liar, and earlier this month, singer Asha Bhosle, who owns the bungalow, filed a police complaint against her for allegedly encroaching on her property.

Cornered from all sides, Sadhana Nayyar has finally broken her silence on the issue. Speaking to Mirror on Asha Bhosle's police complaint against her, Sadhana said that she has been staying at the ground floor of the 9,750 sq ft bungalow - Sangeeta - for over 50 years. She said that she has never stopped Bhosle from using the garden, as alleged in the singer's complaint against her in the Santa Cruz police station.

“I only told Ashaji once that I need to be informed about people who are being sent by her to see the place. They are most welcome but how can I allow strangers inside my house?” she asked.

Sadhana said that while she has been taking care of the garden for all these years, she has no ambitions to taking over the garden.

Speaking on the issue, advocate Viram Trivedi of Manilal Kher Ambalal& Co., who is representing Asha Bhosle, said that he would not like to comments on this matter at this stage.

"Even if my house goes for redevelopment along with the bungalow, all I want is a space equivalent to my existing house in the new scheme. I am not against any form of redevelopment or sale of the property," Sadhana said, speaking on accusation that she is resisting the redevelopment/sale of the bungalow.

The matter first came to public glare on August 10, 2010, when Sadhana filed an FIR at Santa Cruz police station against Yusuf Lakadawala, a fellow tenant and prominent builder, accusing him of entering her house and threatening her. She also alleged that Lakadawala was trying to force her out of the bungalow so that he could put the house up for redevelopment.

"That day, Lakadawala had taken the keys to the terrace where the society's water tanks are kept. Since there was problem with water that day, I called him and asked him to send the keys. After waiting for a long time, I called again. But Lakadawala landed at my residence with a group of people and threatened me," Sadhana told Mumbai Mirror.

"When I went to meet DCP Prasanna on August 9, he asked me to wait. It was only next day that I got a call from Santa Cruz police station senior police inspector who asked me to come there and file the FIR," she said.

Lakadawala was arrested in November 2010 and let off on bail later. He then approached the Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate, claiming that he had been falsely implicated and defamed by Sadhana. Cops investigating the case, in their report to the court, submitted that Sadhana's complaint was false as her cell phone location showed that "she was not at home at the time Lakadawala allegedly threatened her".

"They said that I had given a false report because I wasn't home between 1.28 pm and 2.10 pm. I never said that he was there at that time. My complaint clearly mentions that Lakadawla was at my residence between 2.15 pm and 2.30pm on August 9," she said. (A copy of the FIR is with Mumbai Mirror).

Is Lakadawala a legal tenant?

In a letter submitted to Santa Cruz police station in 1985, a certain Nilam Kashyap claimed that her husband and not Lakadawala is the real tenant of Sangeeta's second floor. The letter stated that her family was staying at the bungalow till 1984, when they shifted to Pali Hill. "We are still paying rent through court to Asha Bhosle as she has given notices to all the tenants to vacate the premises of Sangeeta bungalow," the letter added.

The letter also stated that Lakadawala was a friend of her husband and had showed willingness to be the care taker of the flat after they shifted.

Advocate Vibhav Krishna, who represents Yusuf Lakadawala, said, "We have filed the defamation suit based on the police reports. Everything is documented. As for Lakdawala being the tenant or not on the second floor, we maintain that he is the legal tenant of the said floor. Beyond that we would not like to say anything because the matter is being contested in the court."

Asha Bhosle not sole owner

While Asha Bhosle is the legal owner of the prime property at the cusp of Santa Cruz and Khar, there is another Asha who has equal stakes in the property.

The bungalow was originally owned by the legendary singer's former husband Ganpatrao Bhosle, who died in February 1966. Ganpatrao and the singer had parted ways in 1959. In 1963, he remarried one Ashabai.

When Mumbai Mirror spoke to Ashabai she said that according to a 1969 court order the property was to be sold and divided into eight equal shares, her and Asha Bhosale being two of them. "I do not even know what is happening on that property now. All I ask for is a fair share for me and my children," she said.