Mumbai: A special court here has ordered that 14 properties belonging to Tiger Memon, one of the alleged masterminds of the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts, and his family be handed over to the Central government.
These properties were in possession of the Bombay High Court's receiver since 1994 following an order of the TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act court. The 14 properties include a flat in a building in Bandra (West), an office premises in Mahim, an open plot in Mahim, a vacant plot and a flat in Santacruz (East), two flats in a building in Kurla, an office on Mohammed Ali Road, a shop and plot in Dongri, three shops in Manish Market and a building on Sheikh Memon Street, Mumbai.
On March 12, 1993, a series of 13 blasts rocked various parts of Mumbai, claiming 257 lives and injuring more than 700 others. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) later conducted a probe into the blasts case.
In an order passed last week on March 26, special TADA court judge V D Kedar said the "possession of the immovable properties needs to be handed over to the central government".
The properties forfeited to the Centre are "free from encumbrances" and as such the "Central government through the competent authority is entitled to get possession of 14 immovable properties," the order said.
The competent authority, under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, SAFEM (FOP) Act, had sought the release of the properties.
The plea said the function of the SAFEM (FOP) Act is to trace the illegally acquired properties of smugglers and drug traffickers and order for their forfeiture to the central government.