Mumbai: A day after putting an ad in a national newspaper announcing the auction of Sunny Deol’s Mumbai villa, Bank of Baroda (BoB) Monday issued a correction saying that “the e-auction with regards to sale notice in respect of Ajay Singh Deol alias Sunny Deol stands withdrawn due to technical reasons”.
This comes at a time when the Bollywood star and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP is basking in the success of his latest film, Gadar 2.
The Bank of Baroda had announced Sunday that it will auction Deol’s villa, located in upscale Juhu, to recover a loan given to the actor. The loan amount, including interest, is to the tune of Rs 56 crore, according to the bank.
In the statutory 30-day sale notice under the Sarfaesi Act, 2002, published in a national newspaper Sunday, the bank said the mortgaged villa — identified as ‘Sunny Villa’ and located on Gandhi Gram Road in Juhu — would be e-auctioned on 25 September.
The notice dated 19 August added that Deol — a Lok Sabha MP from Gurdaspur, Punjab, whose formal name is Ajay Singh Deol — was the borrower and guarantor of the loan. His brother Bobby Deol, or Vijay Singh Deol, their father Dharmendra Singh Deol, and Sunny Deol’s company Sunny Sounds Pvt Ltd were also named as guarantors and corporate guarantor for the loan.
Issued by the bank’s Zonal Stressed Asset Recovery Branch, the notice added that the bank has kept a reserve price of Rs 51.43 crore for the auction and earnest money deposit is around Rs 5.14 crore, while the auction bid increase is Rs 10 lakh.
The Congress has criticised the removal of e-auction by BoB and hinted that the government is trying to shield Deol.
In a post on X, Congress MP and party leader Jairam Ramesh said: “Wonder who triggered these ‘technical reasons’?”
The bank Monday released a statement explaining the “technical” grounds on which the e-auction was withdrawn. “First, the total dues did not specify the exact quantum of dues to be recovered. Secondly, the sale notice was based on a symbolic possession of the property as per Rule 8(6) of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules 2002. An application has been made for physical possession by the Bank with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate on 01st August 2023, which is pending for permission. Since the unit is running as conveyed to us by the borrower, sale action will be initiated as per the provisions of the SARFAESI Act, once the physical possession is taken.”
— Bank of Baroda (@bankofbaroda) August 21, 2023
The statement added that the borrower — Deol — has also approached the bank to settle the dues.
The Deols have not issued a public statement on the issue so far. ThePrint reached Sunny Deol via text messages. The report will be updated if and when a response is received.
According to banking rules, a loan becomes a non-performing asset if there is no repayment of interest and principal for a period of 90 days. Banks need to set aside money to cover likely losses from such loans and they typically auction mortgaged properties to recover the amount.
This is an updated version of the story.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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