Not selling overseas properties: Sahara to SC

Sahara Group today told the Supreme Court that it was not selling its three overseas hotels, Grosvenor House Hotel in London, the New York Plaza and Dream New York hotels and alleged that some entities are "looking to grab these properties".
"We will develop these properties. All these persons are looking to grab these properties. These properties including the London property have a huge potential," senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Group, submitted before a bench headed by Justice T S Thakur.
The submission by Sibal came during the hearing of the separate applications moved by Kane Capital Partners Limited, a Britain-based property developer and financier and US-based investment banker, Madison Capital Holding LLC, expressing their willingness to buy properties in London and America respectively.

The hearing also saw cropping up of the name of former Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi allegedly brokering a deal to sell the US properties of Sahara Group.
The lawyer, appearing for Madison Capital, said jailed Sahara Group Chief Subrata Roy's 40-year-old son Sushanto Roy "orally" had asked Lalit Modi for help in selling off US properties which the former IPL boss had put at USD 965 million.
After, the bench confirmed with the lawyer that it was the same Modi of IPL fame, it asked Sibal "are you (Sahara) selling these properties?"

Sibal replied in the negative and said there are already two offers to develop these properties which will fetch around USD six million, equivalent to around Rs 36,000 crore.

He supplied the documents and the memorandum of understanding signed with some of those entities in a sealed cover and said "these are serious offers" and "hopefully, we will give some good news in next 7-10 days before the scheduled hearing on September 14."
"We will not allow these properties to go out of hand," he submitted before the bench, also comprising Justices A R Dave and A K Sikri which also extended the facilities to Roy in Tihar jail till September end to negotiate the deals.