Supreme Court to Sahara: Rs 10k cr is not bail amount but part of dues to Sebi

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday said the Sahara Group must deposit Rs 10,000 crore before the court considers the release of its chairman Subrata Roy from Delhi’s Tihar Jail, clarifying that the amount was not a bail bond but part payment of the principal the group owes to its investors.

A bench of justices KS Radhakrishnan and JS Khehar said Sahara must deposit the amount with market regulator Sebi. “Rs 10,000 crore was only a part payment of the Rs 37,000 crore principal amount, not a bail bond,” Justice Khehar said. “It will only show your bona fides for release.”

The bench said it has in no way taken any punitive action against Roy by sending him to jail on March 4 in connection with contempt proceedings over non-payment of the dues. “We are now trying to secure compliance (of the August 31, 2012 order). We will deal with punishment after compliance,” the bench said, referring to Sebi’s contempt petition against Sahara that is yet to be heard.

The bench was hearing Sahara’s argument that it can not raise Rs 10,000 crore in one go but can pay it in tranches. Sahara’s counsel, CA Sundaram, offered to pay Rs 2,500 crore upfront, another Rs 2,500 crore in 21 days of Roy’s release and the balanceRs 5,000 crore by way of a bank guarantee. “This (proposal) will maintain the basic sanctity of the court order,” Sundaram argued. The bench, however, maintained that it will consider the plea once a formal application was submitted.

The court had sent Roy and two other group directors to judicial custody in connection with contempt proceedings over payment of dues to investors in two group companies. The court has held that Sahara raised the money illegally. Appearing for Sahara, senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan argued that the court release Roy from jail and remand him to house arrest, so as to allow him to meet financiers and raise the money. But the bench said it will consider the plea at a later stage.