Social activist Anjali Damania, who posed a threat to many corrupt politicians, has now landed in trouble with a false case against her. Many are of the belief that the recent probe against her as directed by a Mumbai magistrate court in the Azalea Holiday Inn case is politically motivated.
Azalea Holiday Inn Private Limited, in its complaint before the court, has alleged that former Aam Aadmi Party leader Anjali Damania and her associates had illegally entered a hotel property it owns in Santacruz and were operating a vegetable shop and office from the premises. A magistrate court in Mumbai, earlier this month, has directed police to probe the complaint against Damania and her associates.
Speaking exclusively with Afternoon Voice, Anjali Damania refuted all the allegations labelled against her. Highlighting that the complainant firm itself is falsely occupying the premises without legal papers, the now social activist said, “As right now I am not in India, such tactics are played against me. Azalea Holiday Inn has falsely occupied the building and turned it into a hotel whereas they have no legal authority to do so, I hold power of attorney for said premises.”
Also read: Wall Of Armed Cops With Politicians, A Status Symbol
Hitting out at Sanjeev Chadda, who is one of the sponsors for local political rallies, Damania raised, “All those politicians whom I once exposed are now sheltering the corrupt firm and safeguarding its amoral interest. Chadda is a builder by profession; he is involved in encroaching lands and harassing people is not new to him.”
Damania further lashed out at Chadda and accused him of harassing her. She recalled an incident when Chadda allegedly with his goons reached her residence, disrupted the water supply, and attempted to damage the premises. “He tried all the ways to make me leave the place but never succeeded,” she added.
Metropolitan Magistrate Jaydeo Y Ghule passed the probe order against Anjali Damania earlier this month but a detailed copy was made available on Monday. The complaint also alleged that Damania was intimidating the firm’s employees and was using offensive language with them. After perusal of the complaint, the court said, prima facie, a cognizable offence has been committed by the accused. There should be some collection of documentary evidence or thorough investigation is necessary, the court said and directed the local police station to take necessary action and investigation under section 156 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Later, the Vakola police registered an FIR under sections 341, 427, 506, and 34 of IPC, officials said.
Also read: No Exemption From Paying Property Tax; There Are Around 4.20 Lakh Property Tax Payers In Mumbai
Throwing light on the happenings around the intimidation she faced, Damania said, “The harassment from the illegal encroachers existed since a long time and in 2013, to keep myself away from this dispute, I requested the owner of the said property to get actively involved in the matter and promised to help him in his fight. In the meantime, Chadda sent BMC corporator (Santa Cruz West) Hettal Gala to me who started to force me to sell the garage area to them. Chadda, later, contacted me on WhatsApp and expressed that he wants to meet me about the said hotel property, while I strictly instructed him to speak to the owner regarding this and provided him with the contact number; he instead continued with his monkey tricks and never came to the point face to face with the property owner.”
Reacting to the allegations against Damania, Mahesh Bharat Tapase, Chief Spokesperson of NCP said, “Anjali Damania, who emerged as a crusader against corrupt politicians, later joined the Aam Aadmi Party to fulfill her own political ambitions. Then she left politics and again continued her attacks on government and politicians, but finally landed in controversy for illegally occupying hotel premises. Now the court has ordered a probe, let’s wait for the honourable court’s verdict.”
“When someone is agitatedly attacking power holders, such a reaction is not surprising, let us wait and see what investigations will reveal. I am not surprised with this news, meanwhile, ED, CBI, and many such organizations are here to take care of those who expose government time and again,” said Journalist Pramesh Jain.
Under the condition of anonymity, a veteran politician of Maharashtra asserted, “Anjali Damania, when emerged strongly as a voice against irrigation cases, we all thought she is very tough to deal with, there was fear in political corridors. But later on, she showed her very immature side and lost it, there are also allegations that she used RTI to blackmail people to her advantage. Her constant act of chasing politicians was translated as blackmailing tactics thereafter.”
Adv Madhav Suryavanshi said, “Anjali Damania was a social worker till 2017 but nowadays she is playing on the direction of political leaders like Devendra Fadnavis. Her movement is tainted with political bias. She is taking disadvantage of her own wrongs, like illegally occupied hotel premises in Mumbai. Metropolitan Magistrate ordered Mumbai police to investigate the matter u/s 156 (3). In the language of PM Modi, Anjali Damania has become ‘Andolanjivi’, the whistleblower in her compromise to her greed and arrogance.”
Read the whole background of this story narrated by Anjali Damania to our Editor-in-Chief Dr. Vaidehi
Anjali Damania Vs Sanjeev Chadda – The Ongoing Saga As Explained By Anjali Damania
