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TMI Blog2017 (9) TMI 2045X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... arma, AOR Amit Anand Tiwari, AOR Yash Pal Dhingra, AOR P.N. Puri, AOR Biswajeet Bhattacharya, Sr. Adv. Pawan Upadhyay, Adv. Aakash Tyagi, Adv. Ms. Sharmila Upadhyay, AOR C.K. Sasi, AOR G. Sivabalamurugan, AOR Vandana Sehgal, AOR Tushar Mehta, ASG Rana Mukherjee, Sr. Adv. D.L. Chidananda, Adv. Ms. Sadhana Sandhu, Adv. M.K. Maroria, Adv. B.K. Prasad, AOR A.K. Srivastava, Adv. Ankur S. Kulkarni, AOR Anupam Lal Das, AOR Prashant Choudhary, AOR Sanjeev Agarwal, AOR Mohit D. Ram, AOR Vishwa Pal Singh, AOR Mrs. Shally Bhasin, AOR Sunil Fernandes , AOR Ms. Astha Sharma, Adv. Ms. Nupur Kumar, Adv. Vikas Singh, Sr. Adv. Yunus Malik, Adv. Anis Maheshwari and Zain Khan, Advs. ORDER Contempt Petition (C) No.412/2012 The present proceedings for contempt have a chequered history, but unfortunately like some litigation which have the chequered history due to no fault of the parties but because of circumstances, the present proceedings have such a history which is, if we permit ourselves to say so, the ingenious brain child of the respondent-contemnor. Many an order came to be passed in the contempt proceedings due to the recalcitrant proclivity of the respondent-contemnor who possibly has harb ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... merly a Judge of this Court. The official liquidator will be at liberty to avail the expertise of an expert for drafting the terms and conditions. The official liquidator shall remain personally present with his team, on the next date of hearing. List the matter at 10.30 a.m. on 19.6.2017. Be it clarified that the matter is directed to e listed on that day to scrutinise the action/steps taken in pursuance of the order passed today." We may hasten to add that on the basis of this order, the Court assembled in summer vacation and as the matter was required to be verified only for the limited purpose, the two-Judge Bench combination met. On 19th June, 2017, the Court dealt with I.A. No.47681 of 2017, which was filed seeking extension of 10 working days for complying with the undertaking dated 27th April, 2017, and further to permit the respondent-contemnor for sale of Grosvenor House Hotel, i.e. by transfer of shares of the company to the buyer and to enter into the agreement for refinancing facility in respect of the Plaza Hotel and the Dreams Downtown Hotel, New York. That apart, further reliefs were sought to sell the lands at the price less than 90% of the circle rate, since t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on shall be conducted by the competent authority of S.E.B.I. through the approved agency on or before 5th July, 2017. Needless to say, e-auction can be done in respect of this property. As the contemnor has deposited Rs.790.18 crores, we are inclined to extend the time by ten working days so that the undertaking can be complied with. The balance amount i.e. Rs.709.82 crores shall be deposited with the SEBI Sahara Refund Account by 4th July, 2017. The prayer No.(ii) in the interlocutory application relates to grant of permission for sale of Grosvenor House Hotel, i.e. by transfer of shares of the company to the buyer i.e. GH Equity U.K. Limited. Mr. Arvind P. Datar, learned senior counsel appearing for the S.E.B.I. has no objection if such permission is granted. The permission is, accordingly, granted." On that day, the matter stood adjourned to 5th July, 2017 and on the adjourned date, after taking note of 19th June, 2017 order, a submission was advanced by the learned senior counsel for the respondent-contemnor that a sum of Rs.710.22 crores has already been deposited in SEBI-Sahara account and thereby the commitment given on 19th June, 2017, as regards the first cheque stood ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... posit of bigger amount so that the sum due, which is approximately nine thousand crores as on today, shall be expressly realized, for realization is of the money is the principal purpose of the present proceedings.' On 25th July, 2017, the Court referred to the order dated 5th July, 2017, and, thereafter noted that the respondent-contemnor had deposited a sum of Rs.247 crores and a submission was advanced that the balance amount i.e. Rs.305.21 crores shall be deposited by 12th August, 2017. Mr. Pratap Venugoal, learned counsel appearing for SEBI had raised serious objection to the same. Thereafter, the Court observed thus:- "At this Stage, Mr. Sibal earnestly urged that when the property has been attached and the valuation of the same is more than Rs.34,000 crores, this Court should grant time to deposit the amount and the reasonable time would be 18 months. Whether 18 month is reasonable or lesser time than that has to be debated. The issue, as presently perceived, is the bona fides of the respondent-contemnor and that can be spelt out or translated by action and the action is deposit of the dues in SEBI-Sahara account. Having heard learned counsel for the parties at leng ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... being mentioned before this Court. At this juncture, it is apposite to state that the matter was adjourned to 11th September, 2017, as per the order passed on the earlier occasion, that is, 25th July, 2017, and the respondent-contemnor was required to deposit Rs.1500 crores which would include the balance amount of Rs.305.21 crores. On that day itself, the Court had directed the Official Liquidator to take first two steps for sale of Ambey Valley project. Today, when the matter was taken up, Mr. Kapil Sibal, learned senior counsel appearing for the respondent-contemnor filed a chart as to how the respondent-contemnor intends to comply with the order dated 25th July, 2017. We think it seemly to reproduce the said chart:- S. No. Date Particulars Amount 1. July to September By RTGS/NEFT/DDs against Porbandar and Pune Property Rs.23.20 Crores 2. 11.09.2017 By 10 Demand Drafts against Madurai Property Rs.10.00 Crores 3. 11.09.2017 By 5 Demand Drafts against Mortgage Loan Rs.500.00 Crores 4. 11.11.2017 By Post Dated Cheques Rs.966.80 Crores Total (Rs. FIFTEEN HUNDRED CRORES ONLY) Rs.1500.00 Crores 14. Mr. Sibal would urge that tremendous efforts have be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e to be executed in favour of the Purchaser(s) 6 months from date of confirmation of sale 13. In event of failure of successful bidder to pay the entire consideration, to resell the property to the other highest intending bidder in chronological order and complete the sale as per above process. 90 days from date of failure of successful bidder to make the payments. After hearing the counsel for the parties, we told in the open Court that we will be passing the order in the course of day. At that point of time, Mr. Datar has submitted that there are certain prayers made by the Official Liquidator relating to the auction. The said prayers read as follows:- "Appointment of a 'Designated Supreme Court Appointee' to oversee the physical auction on the spot at the Auction Venue. Permit the Official Liquidator to conduct the Auction at Aamby Valley City, Lonavala Pune or at Hall/Auditorium in Mumbai against payment of rent. Pass a Vesting order allowing the relaxation(s)/vesting as mentioned in paragraph 10 of OLR No.122 of 2017. Direct the Owner(s) of the Properties/Aamby Valley Limited/subsidiaries and associate companies of Aamby Valley Limited/individual nominees/ ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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