Sahara seeks Supreme Court approval for sale of properties to Adani; protection from authorities

The Sahara Group of companies has filed two applications before the Supreme Court seeking approval for the proposed sale of its marquee properties to Adani Properties Private Limited and protection from parallel regulatory and investigative proceedings.

Sahara India Commercial Corporation Limited (SICCL) has sought permission to sell a significant portion of the group’s immovable assets to Adani Properties under a term sheet dated September 6, 2025. The application states that 88 properties across India - including Aamby Valley City in Maharashtra, Hotel Sahara Star in Mumbai, Sahara Shaher and Sahara Ganj in Lucknow, and large land parcels in multiple states - would be sold outright.

According to the application, the proceeds from the sale would be deposited into the SEBI–Sahara Refund Account, which was set up pursuant to earlier Supreme Court directions for repayment of those who invested in Sahara’s optionally fully convertible debentures (OFCDs). Sahara submitted that while the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had attempted but failed to liquidate assets, the group had managed - through its own efforts - to deposit approximately ₹16,000 crore into the account.

The application notes that following the death of Sahara founder Subrata Roy in November 2023, the group was left without a central decision-maker. It also points to ongoing investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), state police and other agencies as obstacles to asset monetisation.

SICCL has therefore asked the Court to approve the transaction, lift attachment orders and constitute an overview committee chaired by a retired Supreme Court judge. According to the filing, the committee would oversee execution of the sale, address objections and competing offers, and supervise settlement of investor and creditor claims.

It also seeks directions to the effect that no other court, tribunal or regulatory authority can take coercive action against the company. The company specifically argued that this was a “fit case” for the exercise of powers under Article 142, to ensure repayment of investors in a timely and effective manner.

In a separate filing, Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd (SIRECL) has asked the Supreme Court to step in and supervise how the proceeds from the proposed sale to Adani Properties are used. The company argued that while the transaction would generate significant funds, Sahara itself would be left without revenue-generating businesses to cover its ongoing obligations. These, it said, include liabilities towards investors, pending salaries and retirement benefits for employees, statutory dues such as taxes, and payments to operational creditors.

SIRECL requested that the committee prayed for in the SICCL application be empowered to crystallise and settle all such liabilities — including unpaid salaries, gratuity, provident fund dues, taxes and operational creditors — from the sale proceeds. It further urged that ongoing and future proceedings by enforcement agencies such as the ED, CBI, SFIO and state police be stayed, describing such measures as counter-productive to investor repayment.

Here too, Sahara urged the Supreme Court to invoke its powers under Article 142, stressing that extraordinary intervention is necessary to balance competing claims and achieve “complete justice”.

The applications were filed through Advocate Gautam Awasthi.

The dispute stems from Sahara’s issue of OFCDs amounting to a principal of ₹24,030 crore, which SEBI held to be illegal. In 2012, the Supreme Court directed Sahara to refund the amounts with interest. While Sahara claims to have deposited around ₹16,000 crore, SEBI said it has so far repaid only a fraction to investors.

Separately, in March 2023 and again in September 2025, the Court ordered transfer of ₹5,000 crore each (a total of ₹10,000 crore) from the refund account to the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies for repayment to depositors in Sahara-linked cooperative societies.