SC sets hefty conditions for Sahara chief's bail Friday June 19,2015

The Supreme Court of India(SCI) on Friday June 19,2015 held that Subrata Roy cannot be released on bail until he pays Rs. 5,000 crore in cash and an equal amount in bank guarantees.

The three-judge Bench led by Justice T.S. Thakur said this judgment making his release conditional on payment of guarantee was drafted on the assurance given by Sahara that they had the bank guarantees ready. "Yes but the bank backed out after media reports came out on the proceedings," Mr. Sibal replied. The lawyer added that it would be difficult for Subrata Roy to pay up without first getting released from jail.

Justice A.K.Sikri, who authored the verdict, said the judgment has already been passed, indicating to Mr. Sibal that nothing can be done now until Sahara chooses to pay up. The judgment said once Mr. Roy is released on bail, whenever that is, he has 18 months to repay his depositors his total liability of Rs. 36, 000 crore.

The court said this payment should be made in the instalments of Rs. 3000 crore in every two months. Default of two months will land Subrata Roy back in jail. The court further refused Subrata Roy's application for parole, but agreed to extend conference room facilities for him inside Tihar for a period of eight weeks so that he can negotiate with prospective buyers and find money to pay for his bail.

Subrata Roy is in jail since March 2014 unable to pay Rs. 10,000 crore for his bail. The Bench while reserving the case for judgment in mid-May, had sought details on how the group proposes to proceed with the sale of its assets and payment to the SEBI.

The apex court on August 31, 2012 had said the group was required to refund Rs 24,000 crore with 15 per cent interest in three months to the depositors. It had on March 26, 2014 asked 65-year-old Roy to pay Rs 10,000 crore to get bail, out of which Rs 5,000 crore should be paid in cash and rest in bank guarantees

However, things touched ground zero for Subrata Roy when his counsel and senior advocate Kapil Sibal informing the court that the bank has "backed out" from giving the guarantee and there is no money currently for his release.