TWO months after the Maharashtra ATS arrested Niranjan J Shah - a close associate of the late scamster Harshad Mehta - in a narcotics case, the Custodian appointed by a Special Court here has announced a public auction of his two prime flats in Juhu next month. The two flats - each measuring 1,150 square feet super built-up - No 202 and 301 in Vandana CHS, Janki Kutir plot, at posh Juhu, are now proposed to be auctioned through public tenders by November 25. The auction shall be executed by the Custodian, appointed by the Special Court (Trial of Offence Relating to Transactions in Securities - TORTS), 1992, under the Ministry of Finance which had seized the properties after the stock market scam and related matters erupted in the early 1990s.

 

The flats belong to the partners in Romil Exports - the late Sushila J Shah and Niranjan J Shah, who are the ‘judgement debtors’ of Orion Travels Pvt Ltd, a notified entity and the late Harshad Mehta, both notified by the Office of the Custodian. While there is no minimum reserve price indicated for the two sea-facing flats, realty circles indicate the two flats may fetch between Rs 7-8 crore each though the property is quite old and several other factors like the condition of the building and the two flats being closed for years, etc, would count.