Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Dec 31, 2002 |
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Economic Offences Markets - Economic Offences Custodian puts Harshad's bulk holdings on the block Dinesh Narayanan
MUMBAI, Dec. 30 ON the eve of the first death anniversary of Harshad Mehta, the Office of the Custodian has put up for sale the stockbroker's huge shareholdings, the value of which could be nearly Rs 400 crore to Rs 500 crore, in several top companies such as Castrol India, Tata Tea and ITC. While the custodian has been selling property and small shareholdings, the bulk holdings are being put on the block only now. The big chunks include about 11.18 lakh shares of Castrol India, 23.26 lakh shares of Gujarat Ambuja Cements, 60 lakh shares of Hero Honda, 6.3 lakh shares of Hindustan Lever Ltd, 4.5 lakh shares of ICICI Bank, 4.7 lakh shares of ITC Ltd and 7.3 lakh shares of Tata Tea among others. At current prices, these stocks alone would fetch about Rs 300 crore. The custodian, which was appointed by the Special Court that heard the 1992 stock scam cases, has called for offers from institutional buyers - both domestic and foreign - as well as the managements of the respective companies for the "bulk category" of shares. Harshad Mehta died of cardiac arrest on last New Year eve while serving remand at the Arthur Road prison here. Incidentally, he was in police custody in connection with a case filed by the custodian with the Banking and Securities Fraud cell of the Central Bureau of Investigation. The custodian had complained that the stockbroker had not submitted to it a large number of shares, and had fraudulently introduced them back into the stock market through circuitous routes. Mehta himself had made a complaint to the custodian in 1999 that about 27 lakh shares of about 90 companies, including those of ACC and Hindalco had gone missing. The custodian, however, did not believe his claim and, following its complaint to the special court, a CBI enquiry was ordered. The CBI had told the court in late 2001 that Mehta had in fact forged share transfer forms to re-introduce the siphoned stocks into the market. The Supreme Court had, in August 2001, allowed the custodian to liquidate the broker's assets. The Custodian is also selling assets that had belonged to others such as Hiten Dalal and the late Jagdish Gandhi, both stockbrokers involved in the 1992 scam.
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