Citing technical reason, Bank of Baroda withdrew auction notice for actor and BJP MP Sunny Deol's bungalow located in Juhu, Mumbai.On Sunday, the bank had said that the auction of the Gadar 2 actor would commence at ₹51.43 crore. The minimum bid for the amount was fixed at ₹5.14 crore. The Juhu property known as Sunny Villa and Sunny Sounds was also set to be auctioned off. Sunny Sounds is a company run by the Deols. The firm is a corporate guarantor for the loan. Bollywood superstar Dharmendra, Sunny Deol's father, is the personal guarantor of the loan.
However, the bank soon announced withdrawal from the auction leading to chaos among political circles. Reacting on the controversy, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sunny Deol on Tuesday said they are his “personal matters”. I do not want to comment. These are personal matters. Main kuch bhi bolunga, log ghhalat matlab nikalenge (Whatever I will say, people will interpret it wrong),” Sunny Deol told the news agency ANI.The state-owned bank on Sunday had put up Deol's Juhu bungalow for auction as the actor failed to repay a loan of ₹55.99 crore due from December 2022. However, on Monday, the bank withdrew the notice citing “technical reasons."
In a statement, the bank gave two reasons for withdrawal of the notice - “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”, the BoB statement added. The bank also said that Deol approached it for settling dues as per the sale notice published on August 20. The Sunny Villa has been in the Deol family for five decades. It houses the Sunny Super Sound recording studio, Sunny Deol’s office, a preview theatre, and two post-production suites.