The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Sahara chief Subrata Roy to deposit Rs 1,500 crore till September 7 to establish his “bona fide,” as it also gave conditional nod for auctioning of the group’s luxurious 8,900-acre Aamby Valley City project in Maharashtra. A three-judge bench headed by justice Dipak Misra while extending parole of Roy and others till October 10 asked the Bombay High Court’s official liquidator to proceed with publication of the sale notice of AambyValley township, near Pune, by Aug 14. It, however, said that the sale was subject to Roy’s depositing the money within the deadline. Rejecting Sahara’s plea for more time to repay the money to the market regulator, the apex court said that the amount of Rs 1,500 crore which Roy has to deposit by September 7 would also include the balance amount of Rs 305.21 crore. “Indulgence cannot be granted to Subrata Roy as indulgence leads to procrastination and it is the murderer of justice,” the court said.
The judges further said that they were going to recover the dues from the sale of Sahara properties, but will not send Roy to jail. “We are clear in our mind, we will not send you to jail because you have money to pay,” they added. The directions came after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Roy, told the SC that the Sahara chief had deposited Rs 247 crore as against the promised amount of Rs 552.21 crore. A balance amount of Rs 305.21 crore still remained unpaid and the same would be deposited by August 12, he argued, adding that Roy won’t be able to pay up the sum by the deadline. Sahara has already deposited Rs 1,500 crore with the Sebi-Sahara refund account as part of an assurance of payment given by Roy on April 27.