Harshad Mehta's family trying to delay sale of flats: High court

The Bombay high court on Wednesday said the family of the late stockbroker Harshad Mehta was adopting delaying tactics to stall the sale of eight flats formerly owned by him in Madhuli building at Worli.

Coming down heavily on the Mehtas, justice DK Deshmukh rejected their recusation application. The application, which had accused the judge of bias, was filed by 10 members of the family, including Mehta’s widow Jyoti, mother Rasila, brothers Ashwin and Sudhir, and sister-in-law Rina. “Hearing of this application has been the most painful experience of my career as both lawyer and judge,” the justice said.

Arguing for the custodian, advocates Shiraz Rustomjee and Leena Adhvaryu had contended that the application was a tactic to delay the sale of the flats. Agreeing with this view and observing that only the Mehtas would have benefited from the delay, the court said the case needed to be decided quickly as directed by the Supreme Court as banks were awaiting dues worth hundreds of crores and the Mehtas were not paying the outgoings despite court orders.

Rejecting the charge of obstinacy, justice Deshmukh asked why the petitioners did not say so in the Supreme Court if they felt he was biased. The court said that it was, in fact, owing to its order that the Mehtas were able to continue living in those flats without paying maintenance charges. The flats are to be auctioned to discharge the late Big Bull’s liabilities.

In spite of this, when counsel for the Mehtas sought an adjournment and did not let the custodian’s counsel argue, justice Deshmukh warned the counsel of eviction from court.

The family members, who are all parties notified by the custodian appointed under the Special Court (Trial of Offences Relating to Transactions in Securities) Act, had contended in their application that the judge had passed adverse orders against them which were set aside by the Supreme Court and once even threatened to throw their counsel out of the court.