SC refuses to stay Sahara Aamby Valley auction

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined Sahara chief Subrata Roy's plea to put on hold the auction process of the group's project 'Aamby Valley'.

A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Dipak Misra refused to give any relief to Sahara.

However, Kapil Sibal, lawyer appearing for Sahara, pleaded to the apex court for giving an extension, but the plea was rejected by the top court.

Earlier, the top court directed Sahara group chief Subrata Roy to deposit Rs. 1,500 crore in SEBI-Sahara account by September 7.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had alleged that the company's chairman, Roy, had allegedly failed to comply with the 2012 apex court order directing him to return investors more than Rs. 20,000 crore with 15% interest that his two companies Sahara India Real Estate Corp Ltd and the Sahara Housing Finance Corp Ltd had raised through optionally fully convertible debentures (OFCD) in 2007 and 2008.

The Sahara group vehemently denied the allegations of the SEBI and claimed to pay more than 80 percent of the dues to the bondholders, but the market regulator, SEBI, disputed that and said they have not paid more than Rs. 9,000 crore dues.