The Supreme Court ordered on Monday that the prime real-estate project of the Sahara group, Aamby Valley, will be attached to ensure the recovery of Rs 14,000 crore the company owes to duped investors.The order came from a bench headed by justice Dipak Misra that noted Sahara’s proposed payment plan extending till July 2019 was too long and said the court would auction the properties to recover the amount. Aamby Valley’s declared worth is Rs 39,000 crore.The bench asked Sahara to submit a list of its unencumbered properties by February 20 so that it can decide to auction them. The company has to be forced to expedite the payment, the bench said.
Sahara has so far paid a little over Rs 11,000 crore. In a proposal before the top court, it wanted time till July 2029 to deposit a balance of Rs 14,779 crore with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).Following the last order, the company deposited a little over RS 609 crore with the market regulator. The company’s boss Subrata Roy will, however, continue to be on parole.In October 2013, the SC had ordered the company to refund the money it had collected from investors under its two financial schemes, declared illegal by SEBI. The top court had dismissed the company’s appeal against the regulator’s order.
In March 2014, Roy was sent to jail after he failed to appear in response to a summon. He was given parole last year in May after his mother passed away. Since then the company has been depositing money with SEBI to ensure he remained out of jail.
