Scam 1992: Harshad Mehta and Ashwin Mehta’s infamous prologue
The OTT web series, Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, has been talked about in the town for all the good reasons lately. It is based on the book written by Sucheta Dalal named: The Scam: Who won, who lost, who got away? Scams concerning Bombay Stock Exchange and SEBI swayed the whole India during those times. It was one of the major scandals that people remember as one of the most infamous crimes in the history of Indian stock market till date. This article is about Harshad Mehta’s brother, Ashwin Mehta.
Synopsis
Source : Twitter
Set in 1980’s and 1990’s Bombay, Scam 1992 depicts the life of Harshad Mehta. It is a rising story of Harshad Mehta till financial journalist Sucheta Dalal busted Harshad Mehta as a man behind India’s biggest financial scam. After Harshad got arrested, the whole stock market crashed and countless Indian investors lost their money. For the very first time, the CBI was compelled to carry out an investigation involving financial crime. It also revealed a corrupt financial system. Finally Harshad Mehta died in custody due to heart problems, which ultimately shifted the whole burden of legal allegations as well as legal battles on the other Mehta family members. But this also proved relieving for the Mehta’s as his death turned many cases in his name void.
The 10 episodes series shows when, how, why and by who carried out all the scam. It also showed how it got exposed by Sucheta Dalal who fought the battle for a very long time. Mehta family involved, Harshad Mehta, his wife Jyoti, his brothers – Ashwin Mehta, Sudhir Mehta and Hiten Mehta and lastly his son Atur Mehta.
Scam 1992 Cast:
Harshad Mehta portrayed by Pratik Gandhi
Jyoti Mehta portrayed by Anjali Barot
Ashwin Mehta portrayed by Hemant Kher
Sucheta Dalal portrayed by Shreya Dhanwanthary
Deepika Mehta portrayed by Brinda Trivedi
All the characters including Harshad Mehta, his wife Jyoti Mehta, Harshad Mehta’s Brother Ashwin Mehta got portrayed with surreal performances by their onscreen characters. They were deeply applauded for their performances. The web series is one of the highest rated IMDB series with 9.5 rating, highest of all time.
Also know about best English web series to binge-watch, here.
Early days of the Mehta Brothers
Harshad Mehta and his brother were born at Paneli Moti, Rajkot District in Gujarati Jain family. His father had a textile business which shut down. He finished his graduation in commerce in 1976 from Lala Lajpatrai College, Mumbai, only to do odd jobs for next 8 years. Harshad then started a job as Salesperson at the Bombay office of New India Assurance Company Limited. There only his interest grew in the stock exchange market as his neighbours were making huge monies from the market. Harshad Mehta’s brother Ashwin Mehta pursued his law degree in his mid 50s.
In the 1980s
But, he didn’t have knowledge about stock market terms. And therefore, he started working there as a jobber in a brokerage firm and made huge profits for the firm. There only, he got an idea of starting his own firm with his brothers Ashwin Mehta and Sudhir Mehta. In 1984, Harshad started his firm ‘ GrowMore research and asset management,’ with Ashwin and Sudhir Mehta as partners.
In the 1990s
By 1990, he was the biggest market player. His name was so effective in those times that his mere single word has the power to change the destiny of any company. Thus, he got the name the Big Bull and Bachchan of Bombay Stock Exchange. Until, on 23 April 1992, financial journalist Sucheta Dalal busted the scam of Harshad Mehta by her report to The Times of India. After investigation, Harshad Mehta’s brother Ashwin Mehta along with 13 people and the big bull Harshad Mehta were arrested by CBI.
Aftermath of Scam
Before 2019
Whenever we discuss the Scam 1992, all the limelight is focused on Harshad Mehta himself. The realistic depiction took all the attention. But, we really have to keep in mind that when the scam is so massive and perplexing, there is more than one person involved. There is a whole setup responsible and with this we came to the subject of Harshad Mehta’s brother Ashwin Mehta, the other mastermind of Scam 1992.
This all came to some ease with the death of Harshad Mehta and all the main allegations were shifted to his brother’s shoulders Ashwin Mehta, who fought the legal battle until end till 2019. Approximately 600 civil cases and 76 criminal cases were booked against the Mehta family. Most of their flourishing assets were sealed and heavy fines/penalties were levied. It was with the death of Harshad Mehta that most of his cases were dropped bringing the total tally down.
After 2019
Ashwin Mehta fought these legal battles for almost 2 decades. This all came to an end in 2019 when he was eased by a special court from the last charge involving SBI fraud. In this, he was jailed for 1 month and was fined 1 lakh. On bonanza, he paid Rs. 1700 in dues to a lot of banks.
Ashwin Mehta then was found involved in one another fraud in the diversion of money from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. In this, Ashwin Mehta was given 5 years imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5 lakhs. After 27 years of legal battle, the income tax tribunal removed the whole tax demand of Rs. 2 crores on Harshad Mehta, his wife and Ashwin Mehta in February 2019. Harshad Mehta’s wife too won a legal battle against a stockbroker named Kishore Janani and Federal bank. They owed Rs. 6 crore to Harshad Mehta since 1992 and now Harshad’s wife was authorised to receive the whole amount along with interest of 18% amounting to whooping Rs. 500 crores.
Journey to a new Ashwin Mehta
But as of now, this all is a dark past for Ashwin Mehta. He is an absolutely new individual now. Interestingly, even being co-accused with Harshad, Harshad Mehta’s brother, Ashwin Mehta was acquitted of the case.
Ashwin Mehta pursued a law degree and he is a qualified lawyer today. He is practising in both the courts of law – the High Court and the Supreme Court on a daily basis. Ashwin Mehta’s current net worth is almost Rs. 25-30 crore. Obviously, the Mehta family have come a long way and crossed many difficulties to stand where they all stay today even after getting alleged for such massive scandals.
