Mahindra, Piramal groups have shown interest in Sahara's Aamby Valley: SC told

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave its nod to sell Sahara Group’s Aamby Valley City in “parcels” after two rounds of bidding for the whole property failed to attract any bid.
A three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, also allowed official receiver and liquidator to sell movables assets in Aamby Valley, such as 23 Mercedes vehicles, to recover dues from Subrata Roy’s group to repay investors in two of its deposit schemes.

Besides these, an international school, a golf course, a hotel and convention centre and an aerodrome may also be sold.


Aamby Valley, a township spread over 16,000 acres some 120-km away from Mumbai, did not attract any offer in two bidding rounds — both locally and internationally, senior advocate Darius J Khambatta, appearing for the receiver, told the court. Hence, he sought permission to dispose of the property in parcels. “It will be easier to sell it off in parcels till the due amount is recovered,” he said.

Among those who have evinced interest in select properties included the Mahindras and the Piramals, Khambatta told the court.

The bench gave its nod, shrugging off objection raised by senior advocate Vikas Singh who represented Sahara. The next hearing in the case is listed for May 9.

Sahara’s counsel Vikas Singh claimed that the group had already paid a substantial portion of the total principal amount to the market regulator and only?4,557 crore is left to be paid. He offered bank guarantee in lieu of the balance due.

In a plea before the bench, Sebi counsels opposed the Sahara group’s request for an early verification of claimed repayment by regulator to the investors, and insisted that the balance must be first paid before any verification was done.