Sunny Deol reacts after Bank of Baroda withdraws his Juhu bungalow auction notice

Amid a controversy over the Bank of Baroda's withdrawal of the notice to auction 'Sunny Villa', Bollywood actor and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sunny Deol on Tuesday said they are his "personal matters".

"I do not want to comment. These are personal matters," 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".

Notably, Sunny Deol - whose latest movie 'Gaddar 2' is a box office success having already grossed over ₹400 crore in a week - was the borrower of the loan, while brother Vijay Singh Deol or Bobby Deol and his father Dharmendra Deol were guarantors for the loan, the notice said. Meanwhile, Sunny Sounds Pvt Ltd was the corporate guarantor for the mortgage.

In a statement, the bank gave two reasons for the 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.