The Supreme Court okays sale of Harshad’s flats

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday gave the green signal to the sale of nine flats owned jointly by Harshad Mehta and his family members in Madhuli Cooperative Housing Society in Worli, Mumbai, and utilize the proceeds for discharge of the liabilities of Mehta in the 1992 securities scam.
A bench comprising Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan dismissed the appeals by Mehta’s mother, wife, sister-in-law and other family members challenging the special court’s order in this regard.
However, the bench felt that since the flats along with car parking slots were attached by the custodian to realise the outstanding dues against Harshad Mehta, it would not be prudent to charge the family members with the dues for maintenance of the flats running to over a crore of rupees.
“Due to the fact that joint/ second holders are notified entities, the assets of the appellants have been treated as attached on and from June 8, 1992 and the same being managed by the custodian for last 15 years,” the bench noted.
The Mumbai special court had upheld the custodian’s plea and declared that the appellants were benamis and fronts for Harshad Mehta, who has since died, and therefore their assets should be utilized in the discharge of their liabilities.