The Harshad Mehta scam was a 1991-92 securities fraud in which brokers drew money out of Indian banks through ready-forward deals in government securities, oft…
A Bombay stockbroker who started as a jobber's clerk, set up Grow More Research in 1986 and became the face of the market.
The Sensex rose from about 1,194 to about 4,467 in a year. ACC shares went from about Rs 200 to nearly Rs 9,000.
Banks paid brokers in short-term securities deals and got receipts instead of securities. Some receipts had nothing behind them.
Sucheta Dalal of The Times of India revealed a large shortfall in SBI's government-securities account linked to Mehta.
The Sensex lost 570 points in a day to 3,870, then slid to about 2,500 later that year.
The RBI's Janakiraman Committee found about Rs 3,542 crore of unbacked deals. A Special Court and a JPC followed.
With his brothers, on charges over 27 lakh shares of about 90 companies worth about Rs 250 crore.
Mehta claimed he paid PM P.V. Narasimha Rao Rs 1 crore. Rao denied it and the charge was never proved.
SEBI got penalty powers in 1995, the NSE brought screen trading in 1994, and the 1996 Depositories Act made shares electronic.
He died of a heart attack in Thane, aged 47, convicted in 4 of 27 criminal cases.
A Mumbai special court jailed four former officials of State Bank of Saurashtra, UCO Bank and SBI for three years.
No. A Mumbai tax tribunal deleted a Rs 1,021 crore addition to his 1990s income in a ruling reported on 5 Oct 2026.
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