Big Bull’s properties escape auction after Supreme Court intervenes

Controversies regarding ‘Big Bull’ Harshad Mehta and his properties refuse to subside. On Tuesday, when buyers were to submit their final bids for Mehta’s properties in Khar, but a last minute directive from the Supreme Court put a stay on any dealings till further notice.

Properties located in Gulmohar Building in Khar, Highland Court Co-operative Housing Society in Bandra and Gurukrupa Building at Sandhurst Road belonging to Harshad Mehta Group were advertised for sale in public notices issued on November 25, and December 1 and 7 respectively.

However, a fresh public notice issued on Tuesday stated that the Supreme Court has restrained taking further steps for auctioning of the said properties.

Interestingly, the public notice surfaced on a day when the prospective buyers interested in flat numbers 61A and 61B of the Gulmohar Building were supposed to submit their final sealed bids to the advisor in the office of the custodian at Nariman Point before the deadline of 2pm. The buyers had earlier inspected the property on December 9 and 10.

This is not the first time Mehta’s property has met with this fate. Eight flats owned by Mehta in the Madhuli building in Worli were put for sale and bids were invited in January 2009. But far from being sold the matter of selling these flats is still under litigation making rounds between special court and supreme court one after the other.

However, this does not seem to have deterred buyers from aspiring to buy Mehta’s property. When DNA visited Highland Court on Tuesday, a security guard said that he had lost the count of the number of people who had come to inspect the four flats on December 14 and 15.

The buyers were expected to submit bids on January 5, but, that, too, will have to be postponed.