No takers for Aamby Valley, liquidator tells Supreme Court
The official liquidator for Sahara Group’s Aamby Valley has informed the Supreme Court that the auction process for the property had failed as the advertisement calling for bids received no response
The court asks Sai Rydam Realtors, Prime Downtown Real Estate to deposit a demand draft of ₹99 crore immediately, and pay ₹200 crore by 15 August and ₹682.8 crore by 12 September. Photo: Aamby Valley City website
New Delhi: The official liquidator for Sahara Group’s Aamby Valley has informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that the auction process for the property in Maharashtra had failed as the advertisement calling for bids received no response.
On 16 May, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had given its nod to the auction of Aamby Valley properties, after it failed to deposit ₹750 crore in the Sebi-Sahara refund account by the 15 May deadline.
The court had, in April, permitted Sahara Group to sell any land parcel in Aamby Valley, carved out under a Bombay high court official liquidator’s plan, and deposit the proceeds into the Sebi-Sahara account by 15 May in order to avert the auction scheduled to be held on 2 June. The bids were invited between 21 May and 31 May. The plan of the official liquidator of the Bombay HC involved five land parcels of 1,000 acres, each, in Aamby Valley. Vikas Singh, the counsel appearing for Sahara, informed the court that two real estate companies, Sai Rydam Realtors and Prime Downtown Real Estate Pvt. Ltd, had expressed their willingness to buy 300 acres of Sahara’s properties in Vasani. The proceeds from the sale amounted to over ₹982 crore, which would go towards the satisfaction of Sahara’s dues to the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The bench then asked the two firms to deposit a demand draft of ₹99 crore immediately, and pay ₹200 crore by 15 August and ₹682.8 crore by 12 September. The apex court had also cautioned them that any default would amount to contempt and the deposited amount would be forfeited.
The apex court also asked Sahara to file an affidavit detailing the sale of its Plaza Hotel in New York and if the proceeds from the sale were used towards the satisfaction of Sahara’s due to Bank of China.
Sebi had moved the apex court in August 2014 to recover Rs36,000 crore from Sahara to refund investors who had purchased securities from two group firms. The market regulator had asked the court to appoint a receiver who would dispose of Sahara’s domestic and offshore properties, and raise the money.
With Inputs from PTI.
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