About eight months ago, the Centre advised the state government to let the agency investigate allegations that Ambani bought Wakf land, which is not permissible under law.The original owner, Karimbhai Ibrahimbhai Khoja Orphanage, a charitable trust, sold the land to Ambani's Antilla Commercial Private Limited in July 2002 for Rs21.5 crore much less than the prevailing market rate.
This Waqf land deal has sparked rows earlier, too. In 2007, then minority affairs minister Anish Ahmed had mentioned a number of irregularities in the sale of the land and had asked the Maharashtra State Waqf Board to take back the plot. However, in a curious development, while the minister kept claiming the sale was illegal, then chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said there were no irregularities in the deal.
Incidentally, Ambani has still not started living in Antillia.