Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy stands the risk of losing his prime property, the Aamby Valley in Maharashtra, if the cheque, dated July 15, deposited by Sahara with SEBI worth Rs 552 crore bounces. The Supreme Court on Wednesday made all preparations for the auction of the Rs 37,000-crore Aamby Valley in such a scenario.
Roy, who is on parole and enjoys exemption from remaining personally present in court had promised to pay Rs 1,500 crore by June 15 and presented a cheque of Rs 552 crore dated July 15 on April 27, 2017 as a guarantee towards payment of Rs 10,000 crore to the Supreme Court as part of his bail condition. On Wednesday, Roy fulfilled his promise of depositing Rs 1,500.40 crore into the SEBI-Sahara bank account. However, when the Court directed SEBI to present the cheque worth Rs 552.21 crore for realisation, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Sahara Group objected.
The duo demanded further time of at least one month for presenting of the cheque citing severe cash crunch as no buyer was coming forth to purchase their properties. The bench relented to extend the time any further. It said, “You (Roy) still have to deposit a principal amount of about Rs 9,000 crore. looking at the pace at which money is coming in, this is going to take a lifetime. If this is the rate at which we are going, why not auction Aamby Valley.” Based on previous orders passed by the court, the Official liquidator attached with the Bombay HC had valued the Aamby Valley to be worth Rs 37,000 crore that could be auctioned at one go by putting the auctionable assets into three categories.
The bench of Justices Dipak Misra, Ranjan Gogoi and AK Sikri approved the terms and conditions and the draft proclamation of auction prepared by the liquidator but refused to go ahead with the auction, waiting for what happens on July 15. Posting the matter for July 20, it said, “If the cheque (on presentation by SEBI) is dishonoured, appropriate consequences shall be faced by the contemner…Further steps (for auction) shall be taken if the amount directed here is not deposited by the said date. If cheque is honoured, we will direct deposit of a bigger amount.”