Court extends Harshad apartment bid by one more week

The special court today extended the bidding for late stockbroker Harshad Mehta's eight apartments for one more week to allow the stockbroker's brother Ashwin Mehta to get more candidates, who can bid higher amount for the Worli property.

The court today tentatively approved Dr Bimal Parekh and his brother Amal Niranjan Parekh as the highest bidder for the property, who announced a Rs 20 crore bid for all the eight apartments in Madhuli Housing Cooperative Society at Worli in Mumbai. The highest bid was almost double than what the official valuer had valued at, around Rs 11.57 crore for the eight flats, which had a total super-built up area of 12,500 square feet.

"Considering the present conditions of the property market, the bids were quite adequate. However, as the highest bidder agreed to keep the bid open for one more week, it is appropriate for the notified parties to keep the bids open,'' justice DK Deshmukh said.

The bids will have to be finally approved by the Supreme Court.

By this rate, the highest bid amounts to Rs 16,000 per square feet, which was still half than the current property rates in the area. According to realty experts, good buildings in the area commanded rates of Rs 35,000 a square feet early last year.

The apartment auctions were held by the office of the custodian in related to 1992 stock scam on Wednesday and nearly half-a-dozen people participated in the bid. The bids were opened in the special court today. The court allowed the bidders to raise their bids as Ashwin Mehta's lawyers argued that the bids were way below than the market prices.

Amal Parekh raised his bids for five flats in third floor of Madhuli building from Rs 12.40 crore to Rs 13.9 crore and Bimal Parekh raised it from Rs 5.22 crore to Rs 6.61 crore for three flats in the fourth floor. These were the highest bids in the floor-wise biddings.

Though Mehta family owe over Rs 1.5 crore to the Madhuli Society, the family argued that the dues have to be settled from the sale of the property. However, the court ordered that the custodian should pay the dues and later recover from the family to free the purchaser of the flats from all the past dues.

The stockbroker's mother Rasila S Mehta has filed a case in the Supreme Court last week. She wanted to bid for the properties using the funds that are locked up. However, the case has been adjourned for the next one week.