A Nairobi court has forfeited to the state a title deed where the demolished Airgate Mall formerly Taj Mall once stood along the Nairobi Outering road.
Milimani Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi made the directive after convicting Taj Mall owner Rameshchandra Govind Gorasia saying he held a forged title deed.
Gorasia has been sentenced to 18 months in prison or a fine of Ksh550,000 on two counts of presenting a fake document and forcibly detaining the title deed.
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"I find that the prosecution has proved the two charges against the accused person here beyond any reasonable doubt. I accordingly convict him," Andayi ruled.
The court found Gorasia guilty of presenting a forged title deed land number 20273 to Jayesh Patel, a director of Sieta Investment limited on March 7, 2015, at Taj Towers in Upperhill, Nairobi county.
He was also convicted of forcibly detaining the title deed of the land measuring 1,591 hectares in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace to Patel who is by law the bonafide owner of the said land.
While passing the sentence, the magistrate said he considered the seriousness of the offences and dismissed the accused's request for a non-custodial sentence.
"I take into account the mitigation of the accused person and the seriousness of the offences he faces. I find a non-custodial sentence, in this case, not appropriate," Andayi ruled.
In mitigation, Gorasia through lawyer Edward Oonge said he is remorseful and sought to be given a non-custodial sentence.
"My client owns the title of the land he bought and it's unfortunate that he is finding himself in this situation. We urge the court to be lenient while passing the sentence," Oonge said.
Gorasia had earlier unsuccessfully challenged his prosecution at the High Court with a judge who dismissed his petition stating that the Land Fraud Investigations Unit (LFIU) should have investigated how two title deeds were issued in respect of the same land.
During the hearing of the case, a businessman told the trial court that the Ministry of Lands confirmed to him that he owns the plot in question.
Jayesh Patel who claims to be the owner of the plot said that they met with Govind who is charged with four counts of forgery arising from his counterclaim to the plot.
The court heard that Patel met with the accused person at his office at Taj Towers in the Upper-Hill area, Nairobi County, to clear the air over the ownership of the property in Embakasi, Nairobi county.
"On arrival, we exchanged the title deeds of the land so as to find out how the land had two title deeds," Patel told the court.
He said that after exchanging the documents he wrote a letter to the commissioner of Lands and director of survey to clarify whose title deed was genuine.
"I received a letter from the Ministry of Lands which indicated that LR 20273/IR 141915/1, the plot in dispute was registered on January 20, 2013, in the name of Siesta Ltd, and the title held by the accused person IR 63978 registered in the name of Evans Obong'o Otunda was not issued from their office," the witness said.
Patel further said that after receiving the response he contacted the accused person but to date, he has not given him anything to show that he owns the plot.
He however said that instead, the accused informed him that he "had bought the land from somebody else."
"Earlier in the year 2013 after the title was issued to Siesta, we went to the site since we had plans to construct warehouses on the parcel of land but were confronted and stopped by a group of young men who were protecting the land," the witness said.
Patel produced in court the original title deed and a photocopy of the alleged forged title deed alongside 15 correspondences between him and the Ministry of Lands director of survey and a Barclays Bankers cheque of Ksh 691,400 which was written to the commissioner of lands for the land transaction as exhibits in the case.
