The Bombay High Court has yet again reprimanded the owners of the famous Mohamad Ali Road sweetmeat shop,Suleiman Mithaiwala,and asked them to amicably settle their family dispute amicably. The families of three brothers,Abdul Sattar Mithaiwala,who runs the shop,Abdul Karim,and Abubaker,who died in 1999,are involved in the dispute. Sattar and sons Sadique and Saeed are one one side,and Karim and nephews Imran and Zakharia,sons of Abubakar,are on the other. Each side has been making allegations against the other. The HC had time and again asked them to settle the dispute amicably and on Friday,gave them a final chance to settle the dispute or else face police action on either of the parties,on complaints made against each other. A division bench of Justice A M Khanwilkar and Justice A P Bhangale,also made an oral observation that if the persons concerned cause nuisance in the police station jurisdiction,the police should think of initiating externment proceedings against them. The court was hearing a writ petition by Sattar,stating that the Pydhonie police were not registering an FIR on his complaint of an alleged theft of Rs 45,000 by Imran and Zakaria. The court issued a notice to the senior police inspector of the police station,Shamsher Khan Pathan,and suggested appointing senior advocate Rafiq Dada as an arbitrator. Sattar and Karim,have sought time. The brothers have been filing complaints against each other at Pydhonie Police station for months now. Additional Public Prosecutor K V Saste,stated before the court,It is a civil dispute between the partners and thus we are not very keen on acting on the complaints. Apart from various criminal complaints lodged by either parties,the two sides are also fighting a civil suit. Imran,the petitioner,had moved the HC seeking equal rights in the partnership firm,which runs into crores of rupees. Imrans counsel,Advocate Jafar Sheikh,said,Our main contention is that proper accounts should be maintained by Sattar and his sons who run the shop. Also give us our due share from the business,which they have stopped since November 2009. The court should also appoint a court commissioner to look into the accounts and if it is not possible,then the partnership should be dissolved and equal rights distributed. Sheikh said,How can Sattar become a 66 percent share-holder in the partnership firm? It has to be divided equally among the three brothers or their legal heirs. Sattars wife Anjum Mithaiwala has also filed an arbitration petition in the HC which has been now clubbed with the civil suit and notice of motion and would be heard on a later date. The shop was started by Sattars father in 1936. After Abubakerss death in 1999,Sattar an his sons have been managing the shop and the attached bakery. The partnership deed after the death of Suleiman Mithaiwala was in the name of Anjum (Sattars wife),Chandbi (Karims wife),and Abubakar. The dispute began in 2009,when Sattars nephews demanded a share.
