The Supreme Court of India entered an important application of businesswoman Nowhera Shaik of her properties on 4th November, 2024. The entire criminal case is built around her valuable properties in Hyderabad and Telangana and her previous case acquittal in October 2024. In latest proceedings in the apex court led by Justices J.B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, Dr Nowhera Shaik was present through her senior counsel Kapil Sibal.
Background: Nowhera Shaik’s Legal Journey
Dr Nowhera Shaik is a well-known businesswoman whose legal troubles have drawn attention due to her substantial business empire. The case that led to the Supreme Court hearing began after her earlier legal dispute was dismissed by the High Court in October 2024. To clarify the status of her properties, Shaik filed a miscellaneous application in the Supreme Court, seeking to confirm their legal status and ownership.
The Properties Under Scrutiny
During the proceedings, Dr Nowhera Shaik presented three high-value properties for verification. These properties are located in prime areas of Hyderabad and Telangana, and their combined worth runs into several hundred crores. The properties listed by Dr Nowhera Shaik are:
1. Naina Towers (Banjara Hills, Hyderabad): This property with a market value more than ₹90 crore is situated in one of Hyderabad’s prime locations. The sale deed of this property is with Dr Nowhera Shaik and the court had to make confirmity about this property have no any legal suits and cases against it.
2. Heera Foodex Property (Ranga Reddy District, Telangana): The next major resource, which has been estimated to be almost worth ₹120 crores of investment. This piece of land is also in the name of Dr Nowhera Shaik and the court was directed to certify that there are no adverse claims on the property including, encumbrances which includes debts or liens.
3. Heera Retail Property (Tolichowki, Hyderabad): Perhaps, the most important of these is the largest piece of real estate with estimated worth of ₹750 crore, consisting of more than 33,000 square yards. The full ownership of the property is established by Dr Nowhera Shaik , however, the issue of brought forward claims to ownership of this property has to be determined by the court.
Legal Objections and Challenges
The application was filled By Dr Nowhera Shaik, and for the intervening parties, Senior counsel Dushyant Dave opposed the application. Mr. Dave pointed out that the application resembled a review petition and that ordinarily no party should be allowed a review petition unless conditions apply. However, the Supreme Court decided to consider it as a new concept permitting the submission of new evidence about the legal status of the properties.
Verification of Property Status
The central problem in the case is that it is difficult to prove the legitimacy of the properties. This according to Justice Pardiwala necessarily required a more detailed review to ensure that each of the assets are in fact unencumbered including debts or legal rights. Finally, counsel representing Dr Nowhera Shaik stated that all three properties are free from encumbrances but asked the court for some more time to substantiate this fact. Therefore, Enforcement Directorate (ED) was directed to conduct a reconsideration of the ownership and legal entity of these properties and file the report till November 11, 2024.
Surrender Extension Granted
Some of the other matters that came before the court was the issue of surrender of Dr Nowhera Shaik Besides these forensic beds The other issues were properties. She was asked to surrender by November 4, 2024 but in an order today received it was changed to November 12, 2024. They asked for the additional days so that she complete a process of verifying her properties and prepare the affidavit stating legal possession of the houses and absence of third parties .
Court’s Next Steps
The Supreme Court has come to some extent and has laid down important provisions to make sure that Dr Nowhera Shaik properties are examined properly which will be very useful in the case. The next steps will entail more confirmation of the assets with reports from the Enforcement Directorate and the State of Telangana. These reports will assist the court in deciding whether the assertions made by Dr Nowhera Shaik about ownership and illegality of the properties are accurate.
