Bank of Baroda withdraws Sunny Deol's Juhu villa auction

Bank of Baroda has reversed its decision to auction actor and BJP Member of Parliament Sunny Deol's villa located in Juhu, citing technical reasons. The announcement to hold an e-auction for 'Sunny Villa' on September 25 was made in a public notice on Sunday. However, a subsequent notice on Monday clarified that the e-auction notice published on August 20 stands withdrawn due to technical reasons. The bank did not provide further details regarding the withdrawal.Sunny Deol, the Gurdaspur MP, has faced default on a loan of Rs 559.9 million, along with accrued interest and penalties, since December 2022. In line with the initial notice, the bank had set a reserve price of Rs 514.3 million for the auction, accompanied by an earnest money deposit of Rs 51.4 million.The property under consideration, which includes Sunny Villa and Sunny Sounds, spans 599.44 square metres and is situated in the Juhu area. The latter serves as a corporate guarantor for the loan, with actor-politician Dharmendra, Sunny's father, acting as the personal guarantor.The bank's notice also stipulated that the Deol family had the option to settle their outstanding dues to prevent the auction, operating under the provisions of the Sarfaesi Act 2002. While Sunny Deol has been an influential BJP representative from the Gurdaspur seat in Punjab since 2019, the property's attachment has captured public attention, especially given the actor's recent box office success.Vinod Khanna, another prominent actor, was a long-time representative of the Gurdaspur seat for the Congress party. Sunny Deol's victory in 2019 marked a significant electoral shift in the region, as he secured the seat with a substantial margin, triumphing over the incumbent Congress member.