32 years after Mumbai serial blasts, court orders release of Tiger Memon's properties to Centre

Nearly three decades after the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, a special TADA court last week directed the release of 14 properties belonging to Ibrahim Abdul Razak Memon, alias Tiger Memon, and his family to the Central government, granting the government the liberty to realise these properties.

The court approved a plea filed by the competent authority under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, 1976, requesting the release of the family’s properties, which had remained under the court receiver's custody.

The 14 properties include a flat in a Bandra (West) building, office premises in Mahim, an open plot in Mahim, a vacant plot and a flat in Santacruz (East), two flats in a Kurla building, an office at Mohammed Ali Road, a shop and plot in Dongri, three shops in Manish Market, and a building on Sheikh Memon Street, Mumbai.

The plea was filed after the Al Husseini Co-operative Housing Society sought relief regarding three flats owned by the Memon family in the building, which had been attached by the court.

In August last year, the TADA court had ordered the release of these three flats to the competent authority, enabling the society to proceed with the building's redevelopment. Following this, a fresh verification of records revealed that the 14 properties, though confiscated, had remained with the court receiver since September 1993.

The competent authority then submitted another plea seeking their release, which the court approved last week.