During the hearing, Roy's counsel and senior advocate Kapil Sibal submitted that if the auction process continues, it would weaken its negotiating powers for potential future investments
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected Subrata Roy's plea to stay the auction of Sahara's Aamby Valley.
"The prayer of the contemnor (Subrata Roy) is hereby rejected," a bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra, Ranjan Gogoi, and AK Sikri ruled. During the hearing, Roy's counsel and senior advocate Kapil Sibal submitted that if the auction process continues, it would weaken its negotiating powers for potential future investments.
Sibal, on Wednesday, had submitted an application claiming that the real estate giants were negotiating with an Abu Dhabi-based group, with registration in Mauritius, for an investment amounting to $1.6 billion in exchange of 26 per cent equity in the Aamby Valley project. "A portion of this money (around Rs. 5,000 crores) could then be used to deposit money in the SEBI-Sahara refund account," Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told DNA.
However, SEBI counsel and senior advocate Arvind Datar opposed any postponement of the auction and claimed that the company mentioned — Royal Partnership Investment Holdings — does not exist.
Justice Misra did not buy Sibal's argument and said the court would need a certain amount of "suspension of disbelief" to accept Sahara's claims.
At the previous hearing, when Sahara failed to deposit the requisite amount in the refund account, the apex court ordered the official liquidator — the Bombay High Court — to go ahead and initiate the auction of Aamby Valley.
The more than 8,000-acre township is valued at more than Rs 34,000 crore. The sale of this property would strike a blow and "finish my business", Sahara had stated in a response.
WHY UNDER SCANNER?
- Sahara allegedly duped its investors of Rs 24K cr, and has been trying to raise money to pay the principal amount.
- After Sahara failed to pay the requisite Rs 5,000 crore, on April 17, the court had also decided to auction Aamby Valley.
- So far, the Sahara group has managed to repay around Rs 16,000 crore.
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