SC refuses to stay auction of Harshad Mehta's property

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay auction of over Rs 100 crore worth property in Mumbai belonging to late stock broker Harshad Mehta, involved in the share market scandal during 1992-93.

A bench of Justices S B Sinha and Cyriac Joseph, however, said that till the disposal of the appeal, the late stock broker's wife, Jyoti Harshad Mehta, and other claimants to the property shall not be dispossessed of the property.

Mehta who was facing various criminal cases in the scandal died of a heart attack in Mumbai on December 31, 2001.

The bench refused to stay the auctioning after Arvind Kumar Tewari, counsel for the custodian, Finance Ministry, opposed the stay imposed of the auction ordered by a special court in Mumbai.

The special court had earlier ordered attachment of the property on the ground that it was constructed using money accumulated during the stock market scam.

The massive housing complex "Madhuli" with about 20 flats constructed by Harshad Mehta on the Annie Besant Road was ordered to be auctioned by a special court in April this year.

Mehta's wife, Jyoti, his brothers and other family members had filed the appeal challenging the auction order passed by the special court.