The Supreme Court today granted 15 more working days time to jailed Sahara Chief Subrata Roy to seal the deal to sell his three luxury hotels in New York and London to raise money to be deposited with SEBI to get bail.
Appearing before a bench headed by Justice T S Thakur, Roy’s counsel submitted that its almost finalised deal to sell the properties to foreign buyers has hit a roadblock and is on the verge of collapse and sought more time to save the deal and to hold negotiations with 3—4 other overseas buyers who are interested in hotels.
The bench, after going through the documents including the in principle master agreement with the potential buyer, observed that attempts have been made to finalise the deal and granted more time to hold consultations.
“We are of the view that the prayer for grant of 15—days time to finalise the sale of assets deserves to be granted,” the bench said in its order.
Senior advocate S Ganesh, appearing for Roy, submitted that it may not feasible for the group to dispose of its Indian properties as the real estate prices have crashed down since June this year.
Moreover, the court’s direction that they cannot be sold below market rate also comes in the way of their sale, he said.
He submitted that there have been huge protests outside the hotels after an International newspaper published a story that Sultan of Brunei is buying them.
A very serious problem has cropped up in the last few days after a newspaper report said Sultan of Brunei is buying the properties. It is a monumental setback and subsequent inalienable situation has hit us hard and the buyer developed cold feet, he said.
He said there have been very violent protests outside the hotels and the buyers are “reconsidering the deal which is now on the verge of being scrapped.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar told the bench that though he was not imputing any motive of any wrong doing, the so-called deals are being conducted in a closed room to which no information is known.