The Bombay High Court has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the 2003 sale of the plot on Mumbai’s Altamount Road where industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antilia is located. What Is HCs Verdict In Mukesh Ambani Nita Ambani’s Antilia Case? Delivering the verdict on July 28 a division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep V Marne stated that the nature of the property had already been legally determined and there was no scope for further intervention. “The issue with regard to the nature of the property in question has already been adjudicated. No interference is called for in the instant PIL. The same is therefore dismissed” the court stated. Though the case had been dormant for several years it saw renewed activity in 2017 with fresh interventions including one by advocate Syed Ejaz Abbas Naqvi who later objected to the ruling claiming he had not been heard. The bench however declined to entertain the objection and asserted that the order had already been passed and could not be recalled. Senior advocate Milind Sathe representing Antilia Commercial argued that a similar petition had previously been dismissed with costs imposed and referenced a Supreme Court ruling in Maharashtra State Board of Wakfs vs Shaikh Yusuf Bhai Chawla which had clarified the legal character of the land. The court accepted these arguments. What Was Plea Against Mukesh Ambani’s Antilia? The PIL originally filed in 2007 by Abdul Mateen a resident of Jalna alleged irregularities in the land transaction and sought to nullify the sale demanding the property be returned to the Maharashtra State Waqf Board. The 4532.39 sq. metre plot was sold to Antilia Commercial a firm linked to Ambani. The land was originally owned by Currimbhoy Ebrahim Khoja Yateemkhana a secular orphanage for children from the Khoja community. It was registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act which according to Antilia Commercial excluded it from Waqf Board jurisdiction. Despite this the Waqf Board laid claim to the property in 2004. Antilia Commercial has consistently maintained that all necessary approvals including those from the Charity Commissioner were obtained before the land transaction.