MUMBAI: Nearly 32 years after 14 properties belonging to Tiger Memon, one of the masterminds behind the March 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai, and his family members were attached, a special court last week directed the properties to be released to the central government. The order of the TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act) court came on an application filed under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA). Under the SAFEMA Act, enacted to prevent smuggling and foreign exchange manipulation, authorities can forfeit illegally acquired properties of smugglers to the central government.
According to the police, Memon was one of the key conspirators behind the serial blasts that rocked Mumbai on March 12, 1993, killing 257 people and injuring over 700. The blasts were said to be the handiwork of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar along with Pakistani intelligence service, Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI). Dawood allegedly used the well-oiled smuggling network of Tiger Memon to smuggle in RDX, hand grenades, arms and ammunition to India through the sea route.
Several members of the Memon family faced trial for the 1993 blasts. Tiger’s brother Yakub Memon was the only person whose capital punishment was upheld by the Supreme Court, leading to his execution in 2015. Tiger Memon, who is absconding, is alleged to be a part of the conspiracy right from the planning stage to its execution.
The Memon properties to be released to the Centre are spread across the city and include the office premises of Yakub Memon and his brothers, and several flats, shops in Mahim, Kurla, Santacruz, Dongri and at Mohammad Ali Road. Of the 14 properties, which include three plots at Santacruz, Mahim and Zaveri Bazar, some belong to Tiger Memon’s mother Hanifa, his brothers Essa and Ayub, and other members of the family.
In September 1993, authorities had identified and forfeited several properties owned by the Memon family as the properties were considered proceeds of the family’s smuggling activities. In January 1994, the TADA court attached the properties and appointed the court receiver of the Bombay High Court to take over their possession.
The Memon family members, especially the women, had challenged the forfeiture order before the SAFEMA authorities and later before the Bombay High Court but failed to get any relief. After their pleas were rejected, the authority under SAFEMA had applied to the TADA court to release the properties to the Centre. The court last week allowed the plea.
Setting aside the TADA court order of 1994, special judge Virendra Dattuji Kedar said that the possession of the immovable properties was required to be handed over to the central government. The special TADA court vacated the January 1994 order and discharged the court receiver of the Bombay High Court.
The court noticed that when the attachment order of January 14, 1994 was passed, the authorities had not informed the court that the same properties were already attached by the competent authority under SAFEMA and that the properties were ordered to be transferred to the Central Government, as provided under the SAFEMA.
The court also noted that the Competent Authority had way back in 1994 filed a similar application for releasing the properties to the Central Government, but it was not pursued properly and no orders were passed on the same.
In August last year, the special court had directed three flats in Mahim’s Al-Hussaini building, belonging to Memon’s family, to be handed over to the central government.
