SC directs Sahara chief to deposit Rs1,500 cr by 7 September

The Supreme Court has directed Sahara group chief Subrata Roy to deposit Rs1,500 crore in the Sebi-Sahara refund account by 7 September . This includes the balance Rs305.21 crore of the Rs552.21 crore that Sahara had promised to deposit by 15 July.

The apex court also extended the parole granted to him earlier till 10 October.

A three-judge bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra, Ranjan Gogoi and A K Sikri, however, said that the Rs1,500 crore, which Roy would deposit by 7 September, would also include the balance amount of Rs305.21 crore.

However, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Roy, informed the court that the Sahara chief has deposited Rs247 crore as against the promised amount of Rs552.21 crore and the remaining Rs305.21 crore would be deposited by 12 August.

The bench asked the official liquidator of the Bombay High Court to proceed with the publication of sale notice with regard to auctioning of Sahara's prime property at Aamby Valley.

The bench fixed the matter for further hearing on September 11.

The Supreme Court has on 5 July, noted that Roy had deposited Rs710.22 crore in the Sebi-Sahara account, but wanted the cheque of Rs552.21 crore to be realised within the 15 July.

Roy had earlier told the court that he will pay Rs1,500 crore on or before 15 June and Rs552.22 crore a month thereafter.

He has been on parole since 6 May last year, after spending two years in jail. The parole was originally granted to enable him attend the funeral of his mother. It has been extended since then.

Besides Roy, two other directors - Ravi Shankar Dubey and Ashok Roy Choudhary - were arrested after the group's two companies - Sahara India Real Estate Corporation (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corp Ltd (SHICL) - failed to comply with the court's 31 August 2012 order to return Rs24,000 crore to their investors.