The Court gave Sahara and the government four weeks to respond to the petition. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Supreme Court on Monday (November 17, 2025) allowed Sahara Group to respond to a representation made by amicus curiae, senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, that he has received “at least 34 claims” to various properties which the company wants to sell to Adani Properties Pvt. Ltd.
Appearing before a Bench of Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai, Justice Surya Kant and M.M. Sundresh, Mr. Naphade said Sahara India Commercial Corporation Ltd. (SICCL) did not disclose any of these 34 claims to the Supreme Court when it had applied for permission to sell a total of 88 properties, including Amby Valley in Maharashtra and Shahara Saher in Lucknow, to Adani Properties.
Mr. Naphade said the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) should issued notice in the newspapers, inviting objections to the sale of all 88 properties.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Gautam Awasthi, appearing for Sahara, said the court must give the company time to respond to the amicus curiae.
The Court gave Sahara and the government four weeks to respond to the petition. The Court joined the Ministry of Cooperation in the case as Sahara was involved in many cooperative societies.
SICCL had, in an application, urged the Court for permission “to outright sell various properties belonging to the Sahara Group to Adani Properties Private Limited for the consideration and on the terms and conditions as set out in the term sheet dated September 6, 2025”.
SICCL said it and Sahara Group had great difficulty been able to liquidate certain of their movable and immovable assets. The proceeds were deposited into the SEBI – Sahara Refund Account.
“Out of a total principal amount of ₹24,030 crore, the Sahara Group, by way of sale/liquidation of their movable and immovable assets have realised an amount of approximately ₹16,000 crore and deposited the same in the SEBI – Sahara Refund Account,” the application said.
SICCL has argued it would “not be out of place to mention that, as can be seen from the previous orders passed by the Supreme Court that though the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had tried on multiple occasions to sell/liquidate the assets of the Sahara Group (including through engaging reputed estate brokerage companies and consultants), it was ultimately unable to liquidate any assets of the Sahara Group. The entirety of the funds deposited in the SEBI – Sahara Refund Account have been deposited through the sole efforts of and with great difficulty by SICCL and the Sahara Group”.
The SICCL said the decision to sell was taken in the interest of stakeholders, including investors, in order to satisfy their claims. It said great efforts were made to liquidate moveable and immovable assets in order to deposit the proceeds into the SEBI-Sahara Refund Account.
Mr. Awasthi said the proposed transaction was a breakthrough, not only in unlocking substantial value from the Sahara Group’s key immovable assets, but also ensuring compliance with the financial obligations.
Noting that Sahara lost its sole decision-maker with the demise of Subrata Roy in November 2023, SICCL said the “family members desire to safeguard the interest of the investors”.
Published – November 17, 2025 11:52 am IST
