We are not punishing Subrata Roy: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: As Sahara group chief Subrata Roy's stay in Tihar Jail continued, the Supreme Court today appeared unrelenting saying that its order sending him and two company directors to custody is not a punishment and that the matter of contempt will be dealt with separately.

Making it clear that Rs 10,000 demanded from the group as an immediate payment is not a bail bond, the apex court said that it would consider punishment arising out of contempt only after the group complied with its order that the company should deposit Rs 20,000 crore of investors' money with markets regulator SEBI.

"We are not punishing anyone. We are just trying to enforce our orders. We never said that it is a mode of punishment. Contempt petition is still pending.

"We would deal with the punishment part also but only after getting our orders complied," a bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and J S Khehar said.

It said that paying Rs 10,000 crore would show bona fide of the company after which it would release Roy and two Directors.

"It is not correct to say that Rs 10,000 crore is a bail bond. It is not that. It is the principal amount to be paid by the company and it would show bona fide on the group for release," it said.

In the meanwhile, Sahara Group expressed its inability before the Supreme Court to immediately pay Rs 10,000 crore for securing bail of its chief Subrata Roy and its two directors, who have been in jail since March 4.

The group told the bench that it can pay Rs 2,500 crore immediately and rest Rs 2,500 crore in cash within three weeks after release of Roy and two directors, Ravi Shankar Dubey and Ashok Roy Choudhary.