Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Tuesday moved a contempt petition in Supreme Court against the Sahara Group and its chief Subrata Roy, alleging that Sahara was trying to disrupt the Aamby Valley auction proceedings, reported ANI.
The apex court had in September ordered that the Sahara Group's Rs 37,000-crore luxury township Aamby Valley be put up for auction, calling the group "an abuser of process of law."
The court further turned down the group's plea for more time to deposit Rs 1,500 crore.
The court appointed the registrar general of the Bombay High Court to be observer in the process and directed him "to remain personally present to oversee the physical auction at the auction venue at Mumbai".
The court had in July directed Subrata Roy to deposit Rs 1,500 crore with SEBI by September 7, to stall the auction of the township.
As of now, only two potential bidders are believed to have shown initial interest for the Aamby Valley project.
A number of high-profile celebrities have invested in the project — an integrated hill city township spread over 6,761.6 acres near Lonavala in Pune district of Maharashtra.
The case started when the group disobeyed a SEBI order that directing the refund of over Rs 24,000 crore raised from 2.96 crore investors by Sahara India Real Estate Corp and Sahara.
Group chief Subrata Roy was arrested in 2014 after Sahara failed to comply with the SEBI order. He spent almost two years in jail before the court granted him a parole on May 6.
