Auctioneer SC raises Sahara plot price from Rs. 64cr to Rs. 150cr
Dhananjay Mahapatra
New Delhi:
Marking a first in its history , the Supreme Cour on Monday turned auctioneer and achieved stunning results by raising the price of a plot of land, which the Sahara group had agreed to sell for Rs 64 crore to Rs 150 crore. And the hammer is yet to be brought down.
A three-judge bench of Jus tices T S Thakur, A R Dave and A KSikri followed the principle of competitive bidding enunciat ed by the apex court time and again and made the two parties Samridhi Developers and Go rakhpur Real Estate Developers bid in open court for the 45 acre plot in Gorakhpur.
Sahara group had finalized a deal with Samridhi group for Rs 64 crore as part of its efforts to raise Rs 5,000 crore in cash to meet the Supreme Court's con dition for release of its chie Subrata Roy , who along with two directors have been in Ti har Jail since March 4 last year.
However, even as the dea was being presented to the court, representatives of Gorakhpur Real Estate Developers sprang a surprise by telling the court that it was ready to pay Rs 110 crore for the plot.
When the new bidder said the market price of the plot, as determined by Gorakhpur authorities, stood at Rs 190 crore, the bench struck upon the idea of testing the bona fide of both bidders and put the plot for competitive bidding.
Samridhi, which had final ized the deal for Rs 64 crore, saw the writing on the wall and immediately raised its bid through senior advocate Paras Kuhad to Rs 115 crore. Gorakhpur Developers increased it to Rs 125 crore, forcing Samridhi to go up to Rs 130 crore. With neither ready to back out, the bid soon reached Rs 150 crore.
Finding the competition heating up, the bench devised a payment schedule to make both parties aware of the financial obligations staring at them. Justices Thakur, Dave and Sikri stopped the bidding at Rs 150 crore and told both parties to deposit 25% of the committed amount, that is Rs 37.50 crore, in the Sebi-Sahara account by July 31. The bench said after they deposit this money , they will be allowed to resume bidding from Rs 150 crore on August 3.
The court said the final amount would be payable in four equal monthly instalments. If at any point the successful bidder defaulted in paying the committed amount, then the earnest money of Rs 37.50 crore would be forfeited. Both parties agreed.
“This Rs 150 crore is the threshold price. After you (the bidders) prove your financial capability by depositing the earnest money by July 31, the bidding will resume,“ the bench said. Sahara group's counsel Kapil Sibal said his client was very happy with the turn of events. The bench reminded that the group was around Rs 1,700 crore short of the bail condition of Rs 5,000 crore.
