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| Senior officials at the custodian's office said, "Most buyer place their bids on the last day since they have to put 2 per cent upfront as earnest money." The earnest money is estimated at Rs 8 crore. |
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| Meanwhile, the custodian's office confirmed that the sale of ACC shares would be held as scheduled tomorrow after the special court, set up to hear cases related to the 1992 securities scam involving Harshad Mehta, rejected the Mehta family's plea to stop the sale. |
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| Dismissing the Mehta family's plea, the tribunal said under the Special Courts Act, Mehta's assets were attached as on the date of the notification. |
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| The five Mehta family members had moved five applications before the tribunal on the ground that they had bought about 4.5 million shares before April 1, 1991, whereas the jurisdiction of the tribunal was restricted to transactions carried out between April 1, 1991, and June 6, 1992. |
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| Based on this argument, the petitioners claimed that the sale of ACC shares owned by them should be stopped. The custodian appointed by the government had on September 22 invited bids for the sale of ACC shares owned by the notified parties. |
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| While cement major Gujarat Ambuja holds about 14.4 per cent in ACC, the Life Insurance Corporation is the other majority stakeholder with a shareholding close to 15 per cent. |
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