Aamby Valley auction

The petition says a representative of Aamby Valley Private Limited wrote on September 28 to police, the official liquidator of Bombay high Court and Maharashtra’s additional chief secretary of home, informing that the company has seized operation because of lack of funds.

The letter also said the company cannot guarantee security to the international school in Aamby Valley and police should take over.

The latest developments affected the auction process as it drove the bidders out and nobody is willing to buy Aamby Valley now, the SEBI said.

The high court-appointed liquidator had invited bids in August. “The ultra-exclusive chartered city has residential options ranging from timber chalets to fabulously modern and customised villas in distinct architectural styles and several amenities such as golf course, airport, hospital, adventure sports, retail, entertainment, international school and hospitality,” the liquidator’s notice said.

Other than the 6,761.64-acre Aamby Valley city, a 1,409.87-acre plot surrounding the project and another 321.66 acres in adjoining Satara district were to be auctioned.

Sahara chief Roy had sought permission for an agreement with Victor Koenig UK Limited for an investment of US $1.67 billion in Aamby Valley.

The court allowed Sahara to begin negotiations but refused to put the auction on hold.

The auction is the fallout of the court’s April 27 order that found the Sahara Group guilty of contempt in a dispute with SEBI.

The company was ordered to refund millions of small investors who put their money in two schemes that were declared illegal by the market regulator.

The company paid a little more than ~11,000 crore and took time till July 2019 to deposit the remaining ~14,779 crore with SEBI.