SC orders fresh auction of Sahara's Aamby Valley

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed a fresh auction of embattled Sahara groups's Aamby Valley. The top court also appointed the official receiver of the Bombay HC to take care of the luxury resort town in Pune till the auction is completed. The official liquidator of the Bombay HC told the Supreme Court that unprecedented obstructions were being created by the Sahara group. The auction process of the Aamby Valley property will take around eight weeks starting from December 1. The earlier global auctioning of the property had failed and no bidder had come forward to take over the asset, as Subrata Roy and other directors of the company tried to obstruct the sale, SEBI had told the apex court in October. The property had been put up for auction by the official liquidator at a reserve price of Rs 37,392 crore. The SC also warned Sahara group chief Subrata Roy to not interfere with the auction process. It threatened him with imprisonment if he put any obstacle in the sale. The property is described by the liquidator as an “ultra-exclusive chartered city” that includes timber chalets, modern villas, golf course, hospital, school, and airport, among other amenities. The official liquidator of the Bombay High Court published an auction notice earlier this year inviting prospective bidders for the integrated luxury hill city township spread over 6,761.6 acres near Lonavala in Pune district, as also two land parcels measuring over 1,700 acres.