AgriGold case: Telangana High Court gives nod for selling properties

Hyderabad : The High Court bench headed by Justice MS Ramchander Rao and Justice Amarnath Goud on Tuesday finalised the auction of another building along with the multi-storey AgriGold corporate office building sold by Andhra Bank in Hyderabad.

The Telangana High Court examined the petition filed by the AgriGold Corporate Office in Hyderabad for approval of the auction. Narender Reddy, senior counsel for Andhra Bank, informed the court that Rs 14 crore had been sold in the bidding.

Ravichander, a senior advocate for AgriGold, informed the court that he had no objection to the sale. Petitioners Counsel Shravan Kumar, however, objected to the sale of the most valuable building by banks at a low price. Further, he contended that reducing the value of the building from Rs 26 crore to Rs 14 crore would be unfair to the depositors.

According to Reserve Bank of India regulations, banks are required to conduct a forensic audit and file a criminal case against those who evade arrears.

Counsel for the petitioner contended that in case of Amrapali real estate scam, the Supreme Court had ruled that the purchasers of flats could not sell their assets with the money and deposit the debts, and that the judgment of the Supreme Court to sell and recover the assets diverted by the banks was also applicable in the case of AgriGold.

The High Court bench, however, clarified that it was not possible to cancel the Andhra Bank open bid when it was put up for public auction and that it was not appropriate to object now without challenging in the Supreme Court the orders given by the High Court in the past to auction the banks. The court adjourned the matter for two weeks.