The Sahara Group on Wednesday requested the Supreme Court to stay the Aamby Valley property auction, IANS reported. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the conglomerate, urged the bench to delay publishing the sale notice and also sought more time to review Sahara’s payment plan.

Sahara assured the apex court that it was in the process of repaying the investors, reported The Times of India.

On April 17, the Supreme Court had ordered the auction of the Aamby Valley property in Maharashtra’s Lonavala after the Sahara India Pariwar failed to deposit money to refund its investors. The apex court had asked the Bombay High Court to act as liquidator in the sale.

The Aamby Valley case

On February 6, the Supreme Court had ordered the attachment of Aamby Valley to recover dues from the company. The prime property is worth more than Rs 39,000 crore.

The court had extended Sahara chief Subrata Roy’s parole after the company deposited Rs 600 crore with the Securities And Exchange Board Of India. Sahara had acknowledged that it owed Rs 14,000 crore as principal money to Sebi, but the top court had denied its offer to clear its dues by July 2019.

The bench, led by Justice Dipak Misra, had ordered the attachment to fast-track the recovery of dues the company owes investors. It had also asked Sahara to provide a list of properties that were free from litigation and mortgage so the information could be released to the public.

The Sahara Group has been embroiled in a lengthy court battle with the market regulator over a case involving a Rs 24,000-crore refund to investors. The court said that it would focus on the repayment of the principal amount before ensuring that the group repaid the interest.