The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the auction of the Aamby Valley property in Maharashtra’s Lonavala after owner Sahara India Pariwar failed to deposit money to refund its investors, ANI reported. The apex court has asked the Bombay High Court to act as liquidator in the sale process.
The Supreme Court has also directed Sahara chief Subrata Roy to be present at the next hearing on April 28. It had last week said that if the conglomerate failed to put in Rs 5,092.6 crore in the Securities and Exchange Board of India-Sahara refund account by Monday (April 17), it would be forced to auction the premium property, NDTV reported.
On February 6, the Supreme Court had ordered attachment of Aamby Valley to recover dues from the company. The court had extended Sahara chief Subrata Roy’s parole after a sum of Rs 600 crore was deposited with the Sebi. The company had acknowledged that it owed Rs 14,000 crore as principal money to Sebi, but the top court had denied its offer to clear its dues by July 2019. The bench led by Justice Dipak Misra had ordered the attachment to fast-track the recovery process. It had also asked Sahara to provide a list of properties that were free from litigation and mortgage so the information could be released to the public.
The Sahara group has been embroiled in a lengthy court battle with the market regulator over a case involving a Rs 24,000-crore refund to investors. The court said that it would focus on the repayment of the principal amount before ensuring that the group repays the interest.
The prime property is valued at more than Rs 39,000 crore, the NDTV report said.
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