Mumbai: Bank Of Baroda on Monday cancelled the auction of actor MP Sunny Deol’s Juhu property scheduled for September 25, citing technical reasons. The bank’s statement comes just a day after it invited bids for the 600 square metre plot at a reserve price of Rs 51 crore. Sunny Villa, which houses the actor’s company Sunny Sound and other post-production facilities, is on the property.

The bank highlighted two primary reasons for the cancellation. First, the total dues were not explicitly specified. Second, the sale notice was based on the symbolic possession of the property, following Rule 8(6) of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules 2002. This rule requires lenders to provide a 30-day notice, allowing borrowers an opportunity to repay their debt.

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Mumbai: Bank Of Baroda has scrapped the scheduled auction of actor Sunny Deol’s Juhu plot. The bank explained that the actor had taken steps to settle the dues, which is permissible as borrowers have the right to redeem the security by paying the outstanding amount at any time before the sale of the security.

Typically, while taking action against defaulters, lenders assume “symbolic possession” of the borrower’s assets to indicate their intent to sell, and communicate to the public that the bank is interested in the property, requiring its permission for any sale. To conclude the sale, the bank must physically possess the property, allowing potential buyers to inspect it.

The bank disclosed that it had applied for physical possession of the property through an application to the chief metropolitan magistrate on August 1, 2023, and is awaiting 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 said.

According to banking experts, taking symbolic possession and issuing a sale notice is generally employed to pressure borrowers into repayment if they have the means.

Deol has been representing Gurdaspur constituency of Punjab in the Lok Sabha since 2019 when he won the election against Congress’s Sunil Jhakar. The seat was earlier represented by another actor, Vinod Khanna (also from the BJP), for long.

The matter sparked a political row, with the opposition Congress raising questions about Bank Of Baroda withdrawing the e-auction notice. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Yesterday afternoon the nation got to know that Bank of Baroda had put up the Juhu residence of BJP MP Sunny Deol for e-auction since he has not paid up Rs 56 crore owed to the bank. This morning, in less than 24 hours, the nation has got to know that the Bank of Baroda has withdrawn the auction notice due to ‘technical reason’. Wonder who triggered these ‘technical reasons’?”