Before Miyapur, PS Prasad targeted Paigah lands

Hyderabad: Businessman P.S. Prasad, the man behind the Rs 587-crore Miyapur land grab is no stranger to shady land deals. And, he does not shirk from taking on much bigger fish once his eyes fall on properties worth crores of rupees. Since the last two years, Prasad has been involved in a legal battle with Cyrus Investments Pvt. Ltd., a firm owned by the family of former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus P. Mistry, over lands worth thousands of crores. Cyrus Investments has accused Prasad of misusing the power of attorney it had vested in him, forging documents and selling off lands belonging to it.

According to official sources, Cyrus Investments, a company incorporated in 1923, had bought lands located in Hafeezpur and Hashmatpet from the heirs of the Nizam of Hyderabad, Nawab Mir Usman Ali Khan, in 1967. When several beneficiaries of the Nizam’s land largesse – known as Paigah families — started filing legal suits over the lands, Cyrus Investments appointed P.S. Prasad as its attorney in 2004 to identify the lands and buildings it owned and secure its rights to those.

“Prasad allegedly misused the power of attorney. He sold parts of the lands for several hundred crores. A probe by Cyrus Investments found out that Prasad had sold at least one property to multiple parties”, said a Hyderabad police source. On March 19, Cyrus Investments had served Prasad a notice accusing him of damaging the firm’s reputation by indulging in unlawful activities and making unjust gains.  “The company stated that he was also indulging in forgery of documents. Later, the company issued a public notice stating that it had revoked the power of attorney issued in favour of Prasad. This had led to panic among investors who had paid him money for these properties,” another official said.

Prasad then moved the court and obtained a stay on the previous order. His lawyers told the court that revoking his power of attorney would create confusion in the minds of investors. They also claimed that Prasad had tried hard to safeguard Cyrus Investm-ents’ properties as an attorney. The legal battle between Cyrus Investments and Prasad is still on in court, but outside of it, Prasad has been a busy man, as the Miyapur land scam shows.