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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Subrata Roy allowed to negotiate property sales from Tihar conference hall
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Subrata Roy allowed to negotiate property sales from Tihar conference hall

The conference room, which comes with Wi-Fi Internet and video conferencing facilities, will also house Roy and two Sahara directors for the period

Supreme Court allowed the Sahara Group chief to negotiate the sale of three overseas properties from within the Tihar jail complex, bringing him one step closer to being released from Tihar jail. A file photo of Sahara chief Subrata Roy. Photo: AFPPremium
Supreme Court allowed the Sahara Group chief to negotiate the sale of three overseas properties from within the Tihar jail complex, bringing him one step closer to being released from Tihar jail. A file photo of Sahara chief Subrata Roy. Photo: AFP

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed jailed Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy to negotiate the sale of three overseas properties from within the Tihar jail complex as he seeks to raise 10,000 crore to secure bail for himself and two directors.

A three-judge bench comprising justices T.S. Thakur, Anil R. Dave and A.K. Sikri allowed Roy to use a conference room in the courtroom of the complex for 10 working days starting on 5 August for the negotiations. The conference room will be notified as a jail by the Delhi government by 4 August.

“Let us see if by 15 August they can earn their freedom", justice Sikri said during a lighter moment in court on Friday, referring to Independence Day.

The conference room, which comes with Wi-Fi Internet and video conferencing facilities, will also house Roy and two Sahara directors for the period.

They will be allowed two secretarial staff and one technician, a mobile phone, two computers, two laptops and stationery. Staff will be allowed in the conference room from 6am to 8pm on working days. All expenses are to be borne by the Sahara group.

The move will facilitate negotiations with potential buyers of three international properties owned by Sahara Group—the more than century-old Plaza Hotel overlooking New York’s Central Park, and Dream Downtown Hotel in the same city and Grosvenor House in London. The sales are expected to raise money quickly, according to senior lawyer Harish Salve, who is representing Roy.

The court order said the decision to allow Roy to negotiate the sale would not set a precedent of any sort.

“This was the most appropriate order that could be passed by the court to achieve its objectives," senior lawyer K.K. Venugopal said. “The only way of dealing with the compulsion of having him bring in the funds without releasing him from jail was by allowing him to have a proper place from where he could negotiate with buyers, both foreign/Indian, for the hotels in England and US."

It brings Roy one step closer to being released from Tihar jail. Over the last two months, the apex court has removed embargoes over Sahara bank accounts, securities, bonds and other properties, in order to help the group to raise the bail money.

Roy and the two Sahara directors were sent to judicial custody by the apex court on 4 March for failing to appear before it in the contempt proceedings initiated by market regulator Sebi.

Sebi started the proceedings because the group failed to heed a court directive to pay around 20,000 crore to refund investors from whom two Sahara companies raised the money through schemes that the regulator ruled were illegal.

The Income Tax (I-T) department informed the court that after its assessment, it had raised a tax demand of 10,049 crore on Sahara Group. Additional solicitor general (ASG) Tushar Mehta, representing the I-T department, said he believed the department was “bound to succeed".

Sahara, in its statement, said that it was extremely “thankful" to the court for opening “the path after 5 months for Saharasri to reintroduce him and his presence in the work sphere."

“Actually from today only the business is starting to fulfill the direction of Hon’ble Court though these are all double payments." the statement added, maintaining that it had already returned 17,000 crore to depositors.

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.

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Published: 01 Aug 2014, 04:39 PM IST
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