Deposit Rs 5,000 Crore By April 17 Or Lose Aamby Valley, Apex Court Tells Sahara
The apex court had asked the group to deposit Rs 5,092 crore with SEBI by April 17.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday warned the Sahara Group that its Aamby Valley property will be auctioned if its chief Subrata Roy and others fail to deposit Rs 5,092 crore with the market regulator by April 17. The property has already been attached by the top court.
In the previous hearing on February 28, the apex court had directed the Sahara Group to deposit this amount by April 7. In a partial respite, the court had said it will consider extending the deadline to pay the remaining amount if the group deposits a substantial portion by the specified date.
Sahara was expected to raise this money from the sale of unencumbered (debt-free) properties, details of which it had submitted to the apex court. Out of the total number properties submitted, the Supreme Court had allowed the sale of 13.
The apex court, in the previous hearing, had also directed MG Capital Holdings, which offered to buy Sahara Group’s stake in the Plaza hotel in New York, to deposit Rs 750 crore to the court registry and then conduct the due diligence exercise. On Tuesday, the court said this amount should instead be deposited in the SEBI-Sahara account by April 17, when the next hearing is scheduled.
In an August 2012 verdict, the Supreme Court had ordered two Sahara companies to refund Rs 24,000 crore, along with 15 percent interest, to more than two crore small investors who had invested in their optionally fully convertible debentures (OFCDs) between the years 2008 and 2011.
Roy, who set up a multi-million dollar business conglomerate, was sent to jail on March 4, 2014 for failing to pay a sum of Rs 10,000 crore as directed by the court. The court had said that Roy will not be released from jail until he was able to raise at least half the amount in cash and the other half in the form of bank securities.
However, on account of Roy’s mother’s demise in May last year, the apex court permitted his release on parole. The interim arrangement has been continuing since then subject to Sahara’a payment of the amounts directed by the apex court. In the previous hearing in February, his parole was extended till April 17.