According to rules, a foreign national needs permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) before purchasing immovable property; it has also been made mandatory for the registrar of stamps and stamp superintendent to make sure that a foreigner has a certificate or a no-objection certificate from the RBI before registering the property.

Pakistani composer-singer Adnan Sami purchased eight flats-two in Lokhandwala (Andheri west) and six in Sky Garden (Oshiwara)-between 2003 and 2005 without taking official permission.

Government authorities are investigating this issue. RBI officially informed that the singer was given no such permission had been granted.

Officials investigating the issue said that the sub-registrar of stamps in the western suburbs did not check Sami's nationality and, so, did not ask him to produce the RBI permission required to purchase the flats

Official said: "We were gathering information on Pakistani nationals and, during the course of the preliminary probe, we found that Sami had purchased several properties in Mumbai. Our probe revealed that the transactions were (done) without the written permission of the RBI.''