Sell prime Sahara property, says SC
new delhi — Once one of the richest Indians, Subrata Roy is a beleaguered man. On Monday, India’s Supreme Court directed the authorities to begin the process of selling Aamby Valley, a scenic residential resort near Pune.
Aamby Valley is a property of the Sahara Group which Roy owns. The company, mired in legal troubles, owed Rs370 billion in dues to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The company had pleaded its inability to pay up the latest tranche. The Supreme Court said they had no option but auction the resort to realise the dues.
Sahara on Tuesday said they would work to spare Aamby Valley. The group said: “We have already deposited around Rs120 billion in the last 4 years, which comes to an average of Rs2.5 billion per month in the SEBI-Sahara account. By any Indian corporate standard Rs 2.5 bilion every month for 48 months is a huge amount. So Sahara should be appreciated for its compliance to the court’s orders”.
The court said Roy, who has been out on bail, should appear in person before the court on April 28 to explain his failure to pay up the specified outstanding.
Roy has been granted bail since his mother’s death late last year. His lawyers had argued it was unfair to expect Roy to mobilise his finances while in jail and had requested the court to release him on that ground.
Sahara was supposed to pay Rs40 billion as last installment. But they were unable to, the court found out to its irritation. “We have shown you so much leniency, but where is the money?” the court asked, before ordering the liquidator of the Bombay High Court to begin the process of auctioning Aamby Valley.
Sahara said it is on the verge of selling its Plaza Hotel in New York to raise the money, and that Aamby Valley ought to be spared as third party rights may be involved.
But the Plaza deal had run into trouble as well as a company that had initially offered to buy the hotel had failed to deposit Rs7.5 billion as directed by the Court.
The court maintained that Roy’s continued bail is conditional on the deposit of Rs40 billion. If Sahara is able to pay by April 28, Roy might still be able take Aamby Valley from under the axe.