Don’t intend to send Subrata Roy to jail as he has enough property to pay back: SC

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 25

The Supreme Court said on Tuesday it did not intend to send embattled Sahara group chief Subrata Roy to jail as he had enough property to help recover the money he has to pay back.

“Our mind is clear, we don’t intend to send him to jail because he has property,” a three-judge Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said while extending Roy’s parole till September 11, the next date of hearing.

Roy was sent to Tihar jail on March 4, 2014. But the top court granted him a four-week parole on May 6, 2016, to attend his mother’s funeral. His parole has been periodically extended since.

The Bench, which also included Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice AK Sikri, however, gave him until September 7, 2017, to deposit Rs 1,500 crore in the SEBI-Sahara refund account.

The order came after senior counsel Kapil Sibal told the Bench on behalf of Roy that the Sahara group chief had deposited Rs 247 crore as against the promised amount of Rs 552.21 crore ordered to be deposited in the SEBI-Sahara refund account by July 15. Sibal said the remaining amount of Rs 305.21 crore would be deposited by August 12.

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SC refuses more time to Sahara chief for realisation of Rs 522-cr cheque

But the Bench ordered Roy to deposit Rs 1,500 crore, including the balance amount of Rs 305.21 crore, by September 7, 2017 to prove his bona fide.

During the hearing, Sibal sought 18 months to deposit the over Rs 9,000 crore of the total Rs 24,000 crore investors’ money which was supposed to have been deposited by Sahara. He also requested the court to allow the Sahara group companies to do business.

“We are not running away. Please allow us to do business. Let us earn revenue so that we can pay back,” Sibal pleaded with the Bench, which also included Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice AK Sikri. He sought to emphasize that the company had already deposited over 16,000 crore.

As the court threatened to go ahead with the auction of Aamby Valley -- Sahara group’s property worth Rs 34,000 crore in Maharashtra, Sibal said, “Bare asset is of no value. If we develop the property, it has value. If we auction it right now, the buyer would think we are selling it under distress and we will never get the price it deserves.”

The Bench directed Vinod Sharma — the official liquidator of the Bombay High Court — to go ahead with the publication of sale notice for auctioning of Aamby Valley. It has already approved the terms and conditions for auction of Aamby Valley as prepared by official liquidator.

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Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi — who appeared for a Sahara Group company — told the Bench that he would not appear in the case after Justice Gogoi repeatedly asked him who he was appearing for.

As Rohatgi said, “I am for a Sahara Group company”, Justice Gogoi asked him to specify the name of the company. “Let the AoR (Advocate-on-Record) state,” Justice Gogoi said.

“If you can’t trust my word, I won’t appear in the case,” Rohatgi said and sat down.

The top court on July 5 turned down Roy’s plea to give him a month for encashment of a Rs. 522 crore cheque issued to Sahara-SEBI account meant to be realised on July 15 and had warned him of legal consequences if it was dishonoured for want of sufficient funds. An earlier order issued by the top court required Roy to pay Rs 1,500 crore by June 15 and Rs 552 crore on July 15.

Angry over non-payment of money, the top court had on April 17 decided to sell property worth Rs 34,000 crore belonging to the Sahara group in Maharashtra’s Aamby Valley and had sought Roy’s presence before it.