Harshad Mehta's wife fights to get back Rs 688 cr

MUMBAI: Nearly seven years after his death the battle for the Rs 3000 crore that Harshad Mehta made in his lifetime, is beginning to hot up.

His wife Jyoti, two leading banks, and the Income Tax department are locked in a three-way battle to release the Rs 688 crore booty at present locked with the I-T and property worth another Rs 500 crore which is with authorities who had seized them after the securities scam broke.

In response to two independent petitions filed in the high court by the State Bank of India and the Standard Chartered Bank and other banks seeking to recover their dues worth Rs 1600 crore, Mehta's widow Jyoti has directed the banks to claim at least Rs 688 crore of these 1600 crore from the income tax department. Jyoti has contended that the I-T department had 'wrongly' assessed the amount as taxable income during assessment.