Published on: Aug 08, 2025 08:32 am IST
A Mumbai court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Nirmal Lifestyle’s Rajeev Jain over cheating claims, citing his repeated court absences.
Mumbai: A metropolitan magistrate’s court in Mulund has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Rajeev Jain, director of Nirmal Lifestyle, a real estate company, for repeatedly ignoring court summons in a cheating case. The court has also held the senior inspector of Mulund police responsible for not executing prior warrants and for not submitting any compliance report.
The court said that despite being issued a bailable warrant on January 28, the accused had not appeared before the court, and no explanation was submitted by the investigating officer. “Till date, no report is submitted on record. It appears that the investigating officer has not complied with the order passed by this court,” the magistrate said.
The issue stems from a complaint filed by Juliana D’Souza, a senior citizen who booked a flat in a Nirmal Lifestyle project in Kalyan in 2016. According to D’Souza, the project was stalled and 100s of flats were not delivered to their owners. She finally approached the court in 2024 with the help of a Thane-based social activist Melwyn Fernandes. Following her complaint a cheating case was filed against Jain under the Maharashtra Ownership of Flats Act (MOFA), 1963.
Her representative, advocate Sunita Banis, filed a petition on May 14, 2024 accusing Jain of ‘deliberate non-compliance’ and urged the court to issue a non-bailable warrant against him.
Banis’ application emphasised that D’Souza was vulnerable and had suffered “grave hardship, including homelessness, as a direct consequence of the accused’s unlawful acts”.
Banis told the court, “The accused has repeatedly failed to appear before this Court and seems to have no regard for the law.” She added, “This is not merely about one flat. It is about the systemic failure to protect senior citizens from being defrauded by powerful developers.”
The court noted that the accused was delaying the matter, that no police report had been submitted, and hence issued a show cause notice, asking the senior inspector to explain himself. The matter is now listed for further hearing on August 14.
