 "Centre seeks more time from Supreme Court to reply to Sahara's plea")
The Centre on Monday sought more time from the Supreme Court to reply to Sahara India Commercial Corporation's plea seeking approval to sell 88 properties, including Aamby Valley City in Maharashtra and Sahara Shahar in Lucknow, to Adani Properties.
A Bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices Surya Kant and M M Sundresh granted Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, four additional weeks and listed the matter after six weeks.
The Court also postponed hearing the applications filed by Sahara employees seeking release of unpaid salaries.
Why did the Centre ask for more time?
During the hearing, the Solicitor General further requested that the Ministry of Cooperation be added as a party, citing the involvement of multiple cooperative societies.
Meanwhile, Amicus Curiae (friend of the Court) Senior Advocate Shekhar Naphade told the Bench that he has been receiving claims relating to properties not disclosed by Sahara. He asked that the company be directed to publish a full list of its assets on its website. However, the Court did not issue any directions on this request.
What is Sahara’s proposal before the Supreme Court?
In the last hearing, the Bench had sought responses from the Centre and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on the application by Sahara.
Sahara had told the Court that Sebi has been unable to dispose of the attached assets and that its capacity to manage them has weakened following the death of its promoter, Subrata Roy. The group said it had executed a term sheet with Adani Realty and proposed that the sale proceeds — over Rs 12,000 crore — be used to clear outstanding liabilities.
The application is part of the Sahara–Sebi refund case.
What is the background of the Sahara–Sebi dispute?
In 2012, the SC directed Sahara to deposit over Rs 24,000 crore to repay investors in its optionally fully convertible debenture scheme. While Sahara claims to have deposited a major part of the amount, Sebi maintains that Rs 9,000 crore remains outstanding. On September 12, the Court allowed Rs 5,000 crore to be disbursed from the refund account.