The Supreme Court on Thursday accepted Sahara chief Subrata Roy’s undertaking to pay Rs 1,500 crore by June 15, but refused to halt the auction process for sale of its luxurious 8,900-acre Aamby Valley City project. It also warned Roy, who appeared before the court, that if the cheque is not realised by June 19, he will be sent “straight to Tihar Jail from here”. Roy has also promised to pay other two installment of Rs 552 crore and Rs 3,000 crore by July 15 and October 30, respectively.

A three judge bench led by Justice Dipak Misra while extending Roy’s parole till June 19 gave a strict warning to him that he should be prepared to return to jail if he does not honour his assurance given to the apex court. It also asked Roy to remain personally present on June 19, the next date of hearing. It fixed the reserve price for the proposed auction of the township at Rs 37,392 crore and directed the official liquidator of Bombay High Court to prepare the draft terms and conditions for the sale. The draft terms, which will be prepared in consultation with the market regulator, will have to approved on June 19. The reserve price was fixed as per the valuation report submitted by the Official Liquidator.

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Roy’s senior counsel Kapil Sibal furnished two post-dated cheques – one dated June and the other July-totaling about Rs 2,000 crore drawn on Punjab National Bank, Lucknow, along with the affidavit giving assurance that the Sahara chief is committed to deposit balance principle outstanding of Rs 11,169 crore for refund to its 3.3 crore investors.

Sibal’s attempts to defer the sale of its lavish Aamby Valley township near Lonavala in Maharashtra went in vain. He argued that the group is left with this asset only and if it is auctioned, “the entire enterprise will be destroyed. We will be left in lurch.”

However, the court refused to reconsider his request to defer/halt the auction. “Some times your offer looks like a mirage, it sometimes looks like a sprinkle,” Justice Misra said, while referring to Sahara’s past repayment record. Senior counsel Arvind Datar told the bench that the total principal amount to be paid was Rs 25,781 crore and out of this Sahara has so far paid Rs 14,612 crore including interest and the balance Rs 1,169 crore is yet to come.

The bench also ordered the arrest of former journalist Prakash Swamy, who acted as the power of attorney for US-based real estate company MG Capital Holdings, for contempt of court. He failed to deposit `10 crore as directed by the apex court and will serve one month in jail. Swamy had filed an affidavit on behalf a foreign firm expressing its intent to buy Sahara’s New York-based hotel for $550 million. He had failed to comply with the apex court’s direction to show his bona fide by depositing `750 crore in court.

Swamy in court, expressed his inability to pay the costs and pleaded for forgiveness. He said that the US-based fund is not willing to help him and he had filed affidavit on the firm’s behalf due to personal friendship and he did not know the implications.