The Supreme Court on Thursday set in motion the process for auction of Sahara’s prime estate Aamby Valley in Mumbai even as Sahara chief Subrata Roy appeared in court to stall the auction with an undertaking to pay Rs 2,000 crore by July 2017 and another sum of Rs 3,000 crore by October 30 this year.
Already facing contempt for dishonouring past deadlines to make good his payment of over Rs 25,000 crore to the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Bench warned Roy that he will be sent to Tihar Jail if he defaulted on any future payment. At present, Roy is out on parole and will remain so till June 19, the next date in the case when the Court has asked him to again appear and furnish proof of having deposited the promised sum of Rs 1,500 crore by June 15.
Roy, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, brought two post-dated cheques to the Court, one dated June 15 of the value of Rs 1,500 crore and another dated July 15 of the value of Rs 550 crore. SEBI senior counsel Arvind Datar informed Court that till date, Sahara had deposited Rs 14,612 crore but had an outstanding principal amount of Rs 11,169 crore to be paid to SEBI.
Sibal gave a personal undertaking of Roy agreeing to deposit Rs 2,050 crore by July and Rs 3,000 crore by October 2017. The Bench put to Roy, who was seated behind Sibal whether he intended to honour the offer. “I am trying my best,” he replied to which the Bench added, “We are warning you. If the cheques are not cleared and amount is not coming frequently, we will be compelled to send you to Tihar Jail straightaway from here.”
Meanwhile, the Bench received a report from the Bombay High Court official liquidator valuing the Aamby Valley property to be of market value worth Rs 43,000 crore. It recommended a reserve price of Rs 37,392 crore for auction to which the Bench approved. The Court asked the liquidators to prepare draft terms and conditions of auction and present it to Court by next hearing date.