Supreme Court refuses to release Subrata Roy on bail - Livemint

Subrata Roy was sent to judicial custody in Delhi’s Tihar jail on 4 March for defaulting on an undertaking given to the Supreme Court. Photo: AFP

New Delhi: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday refused to release jailed Sahara group chief Subrata Roy on bail, or even put him under house arrest, saying the conditions for bail mentioned in its 26 March order had not yet been met.

Roy was sent to judicial custody in Delhi’s Tihar jail on 4 March for defaulting on an undertaking given to the Supreme Court. The court has asked Sahara to put up Rs.10,000 crore, out of nearly Rs.20,000 crore that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had asked Sahara to return. The group is trying to sell and mortgage properties to raise the money to secure its chief’s release.

Sahara handed over 21 post-dated cheques worth Rs.1,884.96 crore from the buyers of its domestic properties to Sebi in court with undertakings from the people who have signed the cheques that there will be no default. Sahara also gave Sebi the balance amount of Rs.77.8 crore it had received from a property sale in Jodhpur. The court has allowed Sebi to reimburse Rs.28.1 crore to 2,781 Sahara customers holding multiple deposits, adding this did not bar tax authorities from taking any action against these persons or Sahara.

The court also rejected a Sahara plea to take into account interest worth Rs.900 crore that has accrued on Rs.5,120 crore the group had deposited in 2012.

The court, however, agreed to hear Sahara’s appeal against the Sebi decision to reject the documents it had submitted for verifying amounts it claimed to have paid depositors.

The court will decide later on a Sahara proposal to let a company called Oasis Light Ltd, a Hong Kong-based company, take over a loan taken from Bank of China. According to the transaction proposed by Sahara, by creating a second encumbrance on the international properties, a third party called Mirach Capital will then give a loan of $650 million to Sahara and invest another $400 million as equity in a Sahara company.

Sahara also informed the court that it has agreed to change its escrow agent, following up on a suggestion by amicus curiae (friend of the court) Shekhar Naphade .

Sahara sought the court’s permission to carry on ordinary commercial operations by various Sahara companies that were facing closure since nearly all of its bank accounts and assets are frozen. However, the court said the intention was not to halt their business, and asked for an application furnishing the details of bank accounts and companies. The case will be heard next on 9 January.

Shreeja Sen contributed to this story.

Sahara has filed a defamation case in a Patna court against Mint’s editor and some reporters over the newspaper’s coverage of the company’s dispute with Sebi. Mint is contesting the case.