The Supreme Court Tuesday sought the response of the Centre and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to a plea by Sahara India Commercial Corporation Ltd (SICCL) seeking permission to sell its assets across the country, including the sprawling 8,810-acre Aamby Valley City in Maharashtra, to Adani Properties Private Limited, to raise money to refund its investors. A bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justices Surya Kant and M M Sundresh also directed that the Ministries of Finance and Corporate Affairs be made parties in the matter. This came after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that the Centre may have to make a statement on Sahara’s proposal. “This appears to be a good suggestion, subject to various factors. But the Central government may also have to examine, and put its thoughts before the court. Please consider impleading the Secretary, Finance, and the Secretary, Cooperative Societies. There is a cooperation department now. Because some cooperative societies have invested through their employees, etc. So, we can also present our picture,” said Mehta. The court asked the parties, including Sahara employees, to submit their claims to Senior Advocate Shekhar Naphade, who has been appointed as the Amicus Curiae. While some parties raised claims over some of the properties, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Sahara, said earlier attempts to sell them piecemeal had not succeeded, and the only way out was to sell them as a single lot. Representing Sebi, Senior Advocate Arvind Datar said Sahara could sell the properties provided the sale price is not less than 90 per cent of the market value. Naphade pointed out that Sahara still had to pay about Rs 9,000 crore to the Sebi-Sahara joint fund for repaying investors, and suggested that this be deposited first. Sahara Group, which is facing litigation before the top court in connection with demands for refunds to investors, has so far deposited only about Rs 16,000 crore in the Sebi-Sahara Refund Account, out of the principal amount of Rs 24,030 crore. The Sahara application said that after multiple unsuccessful attempts to sell its assets, it had finally found a “credible buyer” — Adani Properties Private Limited — to purchase all the properties together. The plea said that the efforts to sell were also complicated by multiple investigating agencies initiating inquiries against the family members of late Subrata Roy and other senior officials of Sahara Group. "The said parallel and uncoordinated actions are not only creating confusion, conflicting narratives, and unwarranted doubt in the mind of investors/ depositors but are also effectively hampering, and are likely to hamper further, the ongoing efforts of the Sahara Group to monetise its assets and comply with the directions of this court," the application said. It pointed out that the decision to sell all properties in one block instead of in a piecemeal fashion was taken owing to the “unauthorised and disruptive conduct…of certain…individuals, who, acting without any lawful mandate, sought to alienate valuable assets of the Sahara Group” following the death of its founder, Subrato Roy Sahara, in 2023. The court will hear it next on November 17.
