July 9: The Life Insurance Corporation's (LIC) image as a life-saving agency is under a cloud. Some senior LIC officials have been demanding a huge sum for legal transfer of tenancy rights to residents of East West Villa near Tardeo, which is in LIC's possession. Those who do not concede the demands have been receiving eviction threats, according to sources.

``LIC has been refusing to accept the rents we pay for the last six months and has been demanding a large sum for transferring tenancy rights even to legal heirs,'' said one of the tenants.

Some outsiders said it was ironic that LIC had been displaying its might over a building it did not own. Built in 1930, East West Villa was in the possession of East West Insurance Company. The LIC took it over following nationalisation of insurance companies. The land on which the building stands was taken on lease by LIC for 99 years from one Shankar Sheth.

Interestingly, the lease period expired three years ago, and the case is pending in the Supreme Court. A few years ago, MHADA had intervened and repaired the building with contribution from tenants. LIC then took no notice of the building. The tenants have already paid rent for 100 months as per MHADA's requirement for its takeover, and the state government had already issued this in the gazzette. When the case came up for hearing, nobody representing LIC attended, though the insurance company claims to be owner of the building.

Still, sources maintain this is only the tip of the iceberg, because LIC owns a large number of real estate properties in Mumbai. But LIC officials justified their aggressive stand. ``In a city like Mumbai, where we have thousands of tenants, it is necessary to take such steps as the number of illegal occupants have increased considerably,'' said K A Sonnawane, a senior LIC official. ``We do everything after consulting our legal department. There is nothing wrong in demanding a huge amount for transfer of tenancy rights,'' he added.

``Even in our building, there are some illegal occupants. They have got tenancy rights by bribing LIC officials. They harass poor people like us. If we pay the money, they will stop all this,'' said another tenant. According to tenants, the new regional manager of LIC's properties, B Rangarajan, is perpetrating a huge scam by encouraging selling of tenancy rights. ``We have documents to prove we have been here for the last fifty years,'' said a tenant.

Some tenants have decided to file a defamation case against Rangarajan for labelling them Bangladeshis and anti-nationals. When they had gone to meet Rangarajan with documents, he had allegedly said that in a country like India it was easy to produce fake ration cards and passports. When Express Newsline contacted Rangarajan a few months ago, when the issue came up, he said, ``We came to know there are lots of illegal occupants, so we have to launch such a drive.''

Tenants said LIC has threatened them saying it is not bound by the Bombay Rent Act but Public Premises Act, which means it can evict anyone at will. They also complained about the way LIC fixes rents. ``If you subscribe to their demand, they reduce the rent. They have fixed different rents for flats in the same building,'' tenants added.

``We don't recognise the association they have formed,'' said Sonawane. ``The association paid Rs 50,000 towards repair of water tanks. It was then that they (LIC) recognised our association,'' said the society's chairman, N V Nerurkar, adding LIC has been demanding more money for repair works though tenants periodically repair the tanks.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.