Harshad Mehta scam yields Rs2195-cr bonanza for IT dept

Almost 20 years after the stock market scam perpetrated by Harshad Mehta resulted in tax claims worth thousands of crores, the income tax department has got its full share of the amount that was due from the late stockbroker.

The State Bank of India and Standard Chartered Bank however may have to wait before their dues are fully cleared.

And individual investors who lost their hard-earned savings during the scam can of course sing for their money – they get nothing.

The I-T department and SBI together received payments totalling Rs2,195 crore today in the largest disbursement of claims against losses incurred on account of the 1992 securities scam. 

The custodian appointed by the central government to liquidate the assets of Harshad Mehta and his entities and to distribute the proceeds against his outstanding dues has now released more than 4,000 crore. Of this, 3,400 crore has gone to the I-T department alone, custodian Satish Loomba told reporters in Mumbai. 

The payments, although interim in nature, settle the total principal claim of the I-T authorities of Rs3,221 crore against Mehta as its dues for the ten-month scam period in 1991-92. The payment was in the form of a banker's cheque issued in favour of SBI, where the I-T department has its account.