Supreme Court lets Sahara sell $424 million of local properties

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Sahara conglomerate on Tuesday won the Supreme Court's approval to sell four of its domestic properties, which it said would raise 26.22 billion rupees ($424 million), crucial to secure the bail of its jailed chief.

Sahara Chairman Subrata Roy has been held in a New Delhi jail for almost nine months in a long-running dispute with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) over the refund of billions of dollars the group raised in outlawed bonds.

The Supreme Court has asked Sahara to deposit 100 billion rupees initially to release Roy on bail. Sahara has said it would mortgage or sell its overseas hotels, including the Plaza in New York and Grosvenor House in London, to raise funds.

Last week, Sahara sought the court's approval to take over a Bank of China loan on the overseas hotels and also raise $650 million more in loans through a refinancing to pay off the bail money.

The court has sought more information from SEBI and Sahara on the refinancing of the overseas properties and will hear the case next on Dec. 17.

($1 = 61.8800 rupees)

(Reporting by Suchitra Mohanty and Devidutta Tripathy; editing by David Clarke)