SC warns Sahara of auctioning Aamby Valley
The Supreme Court cautioned the Sahara Group about the possibility of auctioning its prime property worth Rs 39,000 crore at Aamby Valley in Pune in case the company is unable to repay investors Rs 5092.6 crore by April 17. “We will auction your [Sahara’s] Aamby Valley project if the money is not deposited within the stipulated time as promised,” the Supreme Court warned. A Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra directed the international real estate firm, which had shown willingness to buy Sahara’s stake in the New York-based Plaza Hotel for $550 million, to deposit Rs750 crore in the SEBI-Sahara refund account instead of the apex court registry to show its bona fide. The court had earlier directed attachment of the Sahara Group’s prime property for realisation of money to be paid to its investors. The court had also asked the Group to provide it within two weeks the list of “unencumbered properties” which can be put for public auction to realise the remaining over Rs14,000 crore of the principal amount of around Rs24,000 crore that has to be deposited in the SEBI-Sahara account for refunding money to the investors. The court had on November 28 last year asked Sahara chief Subrata Roy to deposit Rs 600 crore more by February 6 in the SEBI-Sahara refund account to remain out of jail and warned that failure to do so would result in his return to prison.
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