Auction Notice To Sunny Deol’s Bungalow Withdrawn, Congress Has Questions

The auction notice for actor and BJP MP Sunny Deol’s bungalow in Mumbai’s Juhu has been withdrawn, the state-owned Bank of Baroda said in a statement today.

Mr Deol’s property was put on the block on Sunday by Bank of Baroda to recover ₹ 56 crore through an e-auction to be held on August 25. The Gurdaspur MP has been in default on a ₹ 55.99 crore loan from Bank of Baroda since December 2022.

“Corrigendum to e-auction notice with regards to sale auction notice in respect of Mr Ajay Singh Deol alias Mr Sunny Deol stands withdrawn due to technical reasons,” the Bank of Baroda said in a statement today.

The bank had said on Sunday that the auction of the Juhu property known as Sunny Villa would commence at ₹ 51.43 crore. The minimum bid amount was set at ₹ 5.14 crore.

Additionally, the 599.44 square metre property, which houses Sunny Villa and Sunny Sounds, was also set to be auctioned off. Sunny Sounds is a company owned by the Deols, and it is the corporate guarantor for the loan. Dharmendra, Sunny Deol’s actor-politician father, is the personal guarantor.

The notice on Sunday stated that the Deols can still settle their outstanding debt with the bank to prevent the auction from being held under the provisions of the SARFAESI Act of 2002.

Reacting to the bank’s notice, Congress today asked who triggered the “technical reasons” for the withdrawal.

“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 ₹ 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 This morning, in less than 24 hours, the nation has got to know that the Bank of Baroda has withdrawn the auction notice due to ‘technical reasons’. Wonder who triggered these ‘technical reasons’?” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.