Retired Supreme Court Justice S Ravindra Bhat and former Allahabad High Court Justice Satish Chandra were appointed on Monday to a high-powered committee tasked with overseeing and conducting the auction of assets worth ₹4,000 crore. This action pertains to the liquidation of assets in the case of Balasaheb Keshawrao Bhapkar & Ors vs Securities and Exchange Board of India.
A Bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan of the Supreme Court ordered the formation of this committee to manage the liquidation efforts of the Sai Prasad Group of Companies’ properties.
Justice Bhat will chair the committee, which includes former apex court Registrar Pardeep Kumar Sharma, a SEBI nominee, the Maharashtra Deputy Home Secretary, and revenue officials from Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana.
Justice Bhat will receive an honorarium of ₹2 lakh per sitting, while Justice Chandra will receive ₹1.5 lakh.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) initiated the auction of attached properties of the Sai Prasad Group of Companies in December 2019, in connection with a ₹4,000-crore investment fraud case dating back to 2016, affecting over 20 lakh investors promised high returns.
The judgment, issued in response to a petition by the Group’s founder-directors (father, mother, and son), directs SEBI to liquidate the attached assets and distribute the sale proceeds to genuine investors.
The Court authorized the sale committee to consult experts as needed, obtain relevant property documents and original title deeds, establish a database, appoint certified valuers, and operate similar to a civil court. Sale proceeds are to be deposited into a dedicated SEBI account.
The judgment outlines procedures for asset auctioning and handling sale proceeds, with SEBI and the states instructed to provide administrative, secretarial, and logistical support.
Advocate TRB Sivakumar represented the petitioners, the Bhapkar family, while SEBI was represented by a team from Expletus Legal.
