SC nod for attachment of Mehta's over Rs 1000 cr property

New Delhi, May 6 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday upheld
a government notification to attach over Rs 1000 crore worth
property belonging to late stock broker Harshad Mehta in
Mumbai as the family failed to explain the source of their
income.
The apex court, while dismissing the appeal of Mehta's
female family members--all housewives--said properties of
third party beneficiaries can also be attached even if they
were not directly linked to the illegal securities
transactions.
A bench of justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan refused
to interefere with the Feburary 26, 2008, judgement of a
special court which under the provisions of the Trial of
Offences Relating to Transactions in Securities Act, 1992,
upheld the notification issued by the Custodian on January 4,
2007.
Harshad Mehta had shot into controversy in 1992 after the
stock market was rocked by the multi-crore rupee scam exposing
a strong nexus between the sharemarket, banks and
financial institutions to dupe lakhs of investors across the
country.
The appeal was filed by Rasila S Mehta, Rina S Mehta and
Jyothi Mehta, mother, sister-in-law and wife respectively of
Harshad Mehta.
"The important aspect is that the appellants have not
explained the source of their income. The appellants are
housewives having no independent source of income.
"It is impossible for such persons to have such huge
amounts of money unless they were the beneficiaries of the
money diverted by late Harshad Mehta and his other family
members who were notified and firms belonging to the Harshad
Mehta Group. The appellants have not been able to reveal their
source of income either to the Custodian or to the Income Tax
authorities," Justice Sathasivam writing the judgement said.