The bank is moving yet another petition on Thursday in the Mumbai High Court praying that Bachchan's personal properties should be attached since his company has defaulted in the repayment of Rs 10-crore loan. The sprawling Juhu bungalow measures about 1,200 square metres and is estimated to cost Rs 12 crore at today's rate.

``We are moving the court to take over the guarantors and promoters' real estate as we do not have any other alternative,'' said Nishit Dhruva of M Dhruva and Co, solicitors of the Canara Bank. As the loan guarantors to AB Corp are none other than the super-star himself, who is the chairman of the company, andhis wife Jaya Bachchan, who is the vice chairman, the bank is seeking to attach their personal properties. ``We have to move court against the guarantors to recover our funds. Though ABCL can take shelter under the Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) net... it's guarantors can't,'' says Dhruva.

Earlier, the ABCL filed the petition to save its two flats mortgaged to the bank from the court receiver. However, even before court receiver could take possession of the two flats in Juhu -- costing around Rs 40 lakh each - ABCL referred itself to BIFR, thus saving itself the ignominy of losing its properties to creditors.

Incidentally, once a company is in the BIFR fold, it need not worry about returning debts until the board comes out with a revival package.

While the court receiver was appointed on March 17, the board of directors passed a unanimous resolution on March 22 stating that ``in view of the accumulated losses being in excess of the net worth of the company, based on the auditedaccounts of the company for the year ending September 30, 1998, the company has prima facie become a sick industrial company within the meaning of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act 1985.''

The board of directors also passed a resolution that the company be referred to the BIFR as the accumulated losses exceeded the entire net worth.

For the year ended September 30, 1998, ABCL's losses were Rs 70.82 crore as compared to its net worth (share capital plus assets) at Rs 60.52 crore. The company took a major hit due to the vagaries the business of movie-making and the controversial Miss World Pageant held in Bangalore -- which left the company haemorrhaging.