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Business News/ Companies / Supreme Court may give Sahara another chance
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Supreme Court may give Sahara another chance

Supreme Court extends Sahara chief Subrata Roy's parole by almost a month; to consider a fresh roadmap to repay investors in a year-and-a-half if Sebi agrees

A file photo of Sahara’s chief Subrata Roy. Photo: Hindustan TimesPremium
A file photo of Sahara’s chief Subrata Roy. Photo: Hindustan Times

New Delhi: The Supreme Court said on Wednesday it will consider a fresh roadmap by the Sahara Group to repay its investors if market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) agrees.

A bench comprising chief justice T.S. Thakur and justices Anil R. Dave and A.K. Sikri also extended Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy’s parole till 24 October on an additional deposit of Rs200 crore, reconsidering its earlier order to send him back to custody.

On 23 September, the court had terminated Roy’s parole but given him a week’s time to surrender. The same day, Roy appealed to the court to reconsider the decision.

Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for Sahara sought the court’s nod to chalk out a fresh roadmap to repay its investors within a year-and-a-half. He also sought permission for Roy to remain out on parole during this time.

“We have already paid a huge part of the money we owed. Trust us to repay the remaining as we want to end this litigation," he told the court.

According to Sahara, the company has repaid at least Rs19,000 crore to Sebi out of the Rs27,000 crore owed by it. The court asked Sahara to submit details of its repayments as Sebi disputed the figures.

Sebi also told the court that out of 60 Sahara properties that it had auctioned, 47 were attached by the income tax department or the Enforcement Directorate. “We have sold only 2 properties which are free from encumbrances and that has fetched us around Rs60 crore," Sebi’s lawyer Arvind Datar told the court.

Roy was granted parole in May after he had been in judicial custody along with his associates Ashok Roy Choudhary and Ravi S. since 4 March 2014 for failing to deliver on promises to return the money two Sahara firms collected from depositors.

On 26 March that year, the court set the bail amount at an unprecedented Rs10,000 crore—half in cash and half as bank guarantee.

In March, Sahara completed the cash payment of Rs5,000 crore towards bail for Roy and the two associates, with the bank guarantee of Rs5,000 crore pending.

Sebi moved the apex court in August 2012 to recover Rs36,000 crore from Sahara in order to refund investors who purchased securities from two group firms through schemes that the market regulator found illegal.

Sebi asked the court to appoint a receiver who would dispose of Sahara’s domestic and offshore properties and raise the money. As of now, both Sahara and Sebi are authorised to sell Sahara’s properties.

The case will be heard next on 24 October.

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 the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Mint is contesting the case.

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Published: 28 Sep 2016, 06:52 PM IST
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