SC wants Sebi reply on process of sale of Sahara's hotels

Sahara had sought the apex court's nod to sell three hotels abroad for Subrata Roy's bail

The Supreme Court today asked the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to come up with safeguards to verify the transparency in the sale of properties of the Sahara Group to raise the amount for the release of its chairman, Subrata Roy, who has been in Tihar jail since March 4.

The new bench to which the Chief Justice had assigned the Sahara cases adjourned the hearing till Friday afternoon so that Sebi could respond to the new proposals made by the Group to raise Rs 10,000 crore for the release of Roy and two directors.

The bench consisting of Justice T S Thakur, Justice Anil Dave and Justice A K Sikri said the court has to monitor the sales so that there is no mischief in the transactions. The judges said they had no expertise in this field and therefore Sebi must think of involving financial experts and independent valuers to make sure that there are no underhand dealings.

Sahara counsel told the bench that it has sold a property in Ahmedabad city and it needed about Rs 2,000 crore more to meet the Rs 5,000 crore mark to get Roy released. There are eight more properties which were released from the court embargo so that the Sahara group could raise the required amount. Three hotels, one in London and two in New York, are also proposed to be sold but there are mortgages involving the Bank of China, which are acting as hurdles in the sale.

The issue of release of Roy and the directors will be taken up on Friday, along with several other applications relating to the sale of properties. Sebi counsel Pratap Venugopal submitted before the court that senior counsel Arvind Datar will present the Sebi view on the transactions. According to Sebi the obligation of the Sahara group has run up to Rs 38,000 crore along with interest on the investments made by millions of people. The court wants the entire amount to be returned to the investors and the Sahara companies are struggling for the past one year to raise even Rs 10,000 crore to release the top executives.