On 19 June 2015, by an order passed by a 3-judge bench comprising of Justice T.S. Thakur, Justice Anil R. Dave and Justice A.K. Sikri, the Supreme Court has declined to immediately release Subrata Roy of Sahara India from jail. The Supreme Court has, however, agreed in principle to grant bail to him provided the conditions specified in its order are fulfilled. The first condition for his release from jail custody is that an amount of Rs. 5000 crore is required to be deposited in cash and another amount of Rs. 5000 crores is required to be deposited in the form of a bank guarantee. Thus, he will get bail if the bail amount of Rs. 10,000 crore is deposited in the aforesaid manner. The Supreme Court has given Subrata Roy eight weeks more in Tihar Jail’s conference room to arrange for the amount for his release on bail.
Moreover, the Supreme Court has fixed the liability of Sahara at Rs. 36,000 crore. This entire amount will have to be paid by Sahara within 18 months and nine instalments from the date of release of Subrata Roy (after he fulfils the first condition mentioned above). The first instalment will be Rs 3,000 crore, and in case of two defaults in payment of instalments, SEBI can encash the bank guarantee to be furnished by Sahara.
Moreover, the court has also placed certain restrictions in case of Roy’s release on bail. Subrata Roy will be sent back to jail if he fails to pay 3 instalments towards Rs. 36000 crore liability of Sahara after his release. He has to keep Delhi Police informed about his movement in the country every fortnight. He will have to deposit his passport on release from jail and he shall not leave the country.
It is pertinent to mention that Subrata Roy has been in custody in the Tihar Jail, Delhi, since 4 March 2014 and his bail plea has been repeatedly rejected by the Supreme Court. Sahara has been allowed to sell a part of its assets in India to raise part of the money in question which is required to be deposited as bail amount.
So far, he has been unable to arrange for this bail money. In fact, after today’s pronouncement of judgment by the Supreme Court, his counsel expressed his difficulty in furnishing bank guarantee of Rs. 5,000 crore to secure his bail.
