Sahara plea for time rejected

Bench Bluntly refusing Sahara’s repeated prayers for “indulgence,” the Supreme Court on Wednesday declined the group’s plea to extend the deadline for honouring a cheque for Rs. 5520000000 even as it accepted the terms, conditions and draft proclamation for auction of the prized Aamby Valley property. A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra, Ranjan Gogoi and A.K. Sikri expressed its displeasure when Sahara’s counsel and senior advocate Kapil Sibal sought an extension from July 15 to August 15 to honour the cheque for Rs. 5220000000. “You have admittedly an approximate Rs. 9,0000000000 in dues left. If you are going to pay in such Rs. 400 and Rs. 5000000000 instalments, the full repayment will take a lifetime. Better to sell the Aamby Valley property. It is worth over Rs. 37,0000000000,” Justice Gogoi told Mr. Sibal. Order to SEBI The court then ordered SEBI to produce the cheque in the bank for encashment on July 15 itself. The court recorded in the order that Sahara chief Subrata Roy, present in the courtroom, would face “appropriate consequences” if the cheque is dishonoured. The court said further action on the proposed auction of the Aamby Valley property hinged on whether the Rs. 5520000000 cheque is honoured or not on July 15.