A well-known landmark at Linking Road in Bandra – KFC – has been shut since mid-February. Ashok Bhatia and Bashirali Keswani are the two owners of the building who rented out the same to KFC.
Bhatia owns the ground and first floor of the building, Keswani owns the second floor but, earlier, he had mortgaged the property as a guarantee against a loan taken by his friend. The KFC restaurant is shut as Ashok Bhatia has been put on the defaulter’s list by the State Bank of India (SBI). Keswani has been given 60 days to repay the loan, the SBI’s notice mentioned.
When the friend defaulted on payment of ₹39.07 crore to the SBI, the bank turned towards the guarantor to recover the dues. On February 15, officials sealed the two galas on the second floor," Bhatia informed in an original report in Mid-Day.
The SBI’s seal has affected the operations of the restaurant and almost 40 employees who worked in the kitchen (on the second floor) have been accommodated at the other outlets of KFC until the matter is resolved.
Bhatia informed that if the issue is not resolved in a given time, the restaurant will be open within few weeks and won’t use the second floor.
Almost ₹39.07 crores need to be repaid to the bank and KFC is bearing a loss of ₹90,000 per day for this franchise.
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