PM Modi’s schoolmate Asgar Ali gets relief in long-running land dispute

An 81-year-old former schoolmate of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received relief in a long-running land dispute in Maharashtra’s Mira-Bhayandar, days after meeting the Prime Minister and seeking his intervention.

Asgar Ali Vohra met Modi on September 8 and raised his long-standing dispute over a plot in Navghar, Bhayandar East. Vohra also sought a CBI probe into alleged irregularities connected with the property.

Days after the meeting, Seven Eleven Construction Pvt Ltd, a company linked to BJP MLA Narendra Mehta, agreed to relinquish possession of the disputed portion and surrender the construction permission obtained for the site. Mehta also agreed to withdraw a police complaint against Vohra, citing a settlement between the parties.

Vohra and Modi are reported to have studied together at BN School in Vadnagar, Gujarat.

According to documents cited in reports, Seven Eleven Construction said it had purchased 1,405 square metres of land at Navghar from Mervin Joseph Fernandes and others through a registered deed dated June 13, 2019. The company later obtained construction permission for the property on April 17, 2026.

Citing the ongoing ownership dispute, the company informed the Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation’s town-planning department that it was surrendering the construction permission and sought a refund of the fees it had paid.

Vohra has maintained that he and his brother acquired about 2,810 square metres of the land in 1989 and never sold or transferred it. He alleged that documents relating to the property were subsequently created without his knowledge and that the land was divided between different parties.

The dispute has been before courts and government authorities for years. A civil court judgment in January 2026, cited in Vohra’s legal notice, held that a later document relied upon by Swayam Builders could not affect Vohra’s rights arising from the 1989 document, to the extent of the vendors’ interest. The judgment, however, did not establish Vohra as the absolute owner of the entire 2,810-square-metre property.

Vohra has also referred to a July 3 document-examination report by the CID, which reportedly identified discrepancies in signatures and figures in two documents and noted alterations made using whitener.

The latest development also involves a police complaint against Vohra and another person. In a letter to the Mira-Bhayander Vasai-Virar police commissioner, Seven Eleven referred to a case registered in December 2025 over alleged unauthorised entry on the disputed property.

Following the latest settlement, the company said it was withdrawing the complaint against Vohra.

With inputs from agencies