Giving one more chance to Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy to prove bonafides, the Supreme Court on Wednesday extended his parole till July 11, provided he gives an undertaking to deposit Rs 200 crore with Sebi by then.
If they fail to deposit Rs 200 crore by July 11, they will have go back to Tihar jail, it warned. This payment will be in addition to the sale of 60 properties that Sebi is trying to sell.
Accepting Roy’s senior counsel Kapil Sibal’s request to give Roy one chance to deposit Rs 200 crore if the parole was extended, a bench headed by chief justice TS Thakur said, “We’re inclined to give one chance to Sahara…Subrata Roy and Ashok Roy Choudhary to make good their word by July 11, 2016 and show us their bona fides”.
“This requires no law, only heart,” Sibal argued, adding that he can’t run away as all his properties are with the court.
Sahara also submitted the list of all its immovable properties, domestic and offshore, which according to the group’s own estimates are worth over Rs 1.87 lakh crore, in a sealed cover and requested the bench not to make it public.
The bench also observed that “with this fortune and wealth why should he (Roy) be hesitant in selling the properties.”
The court also asked Roy and his brother-in-law and Sahara director Ashok Roy Chaudhary to furnish individual undertakings that they were serious in their efforts and asked them to “keep their promises”.
It said that if they undertake to deposit the money the arrangment can be extended till August 5 as sought by Sibal.
The CJI also allowed them to move freely within the country in police escort to meet prospective buyers of properties as per the May 6 order.
The apex court on May 6 had allowed Roy and Choudhary to go to Lucknow on four-week parole to perform the last rites of his mother, Chhabi Roy. It had said that Roy would be under the protective custody of the police “since the investors can go to any extend to get their money back.”
Roy, Choudhary and one other director Ravi Shankar Dubey are in judicial custody since March 4, 2014 for not complying with the apex court’s August 31, 2012 and December 5, 2012, orders relating to refund over Rs 24,029 crore raised from three crore bond investors by two group firms -Sahara India Real Estate Corp and Sahara Housing Invest Corp.
The apex court in 2014 had set the bail amount at an unprecedented Rs 10,000 crore— half in cash and half as a bank guarantee.