 "he Sahara group chairman Subrata Roy (C) is escorted by police to a court")
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Sahara group to submit a detailed road map or scheme for payment of dues to the Supreme Court by October 24.
The interim arrangements also allowed group chief Subrata Roy’s parole, which stood terminated last week, to be extended on the condition the group submited Rs 200 crore.
In a statement issued later, Sahara’s lawyer Gautam Awasthi said, “In today’s hearing… the Supreme Court has first of all extended the interim release up to 24 October. Thereafter, the court was also agreeing to the suggestion that Sahara will submit a detailed proposal as to discharge the liability towards the balance principal which is required to be paid in terms of the 31 August 2012 order.”
In a judgement in August 2012, the court had ordered Sahara India Real Estate and Sahara Housing Investment to repay Rs 24,029 crore, raised from over 29.6 million investors, along with an interest of 15 per cent. According to market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the group has so far deposited Rs 10,718 crore.
Earlier, the bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur questioned the group how it could have deposited properties which were under income tax (I-T) department’s attachment orders. “It is the duty of your clients to tell us. You are taking us for a ride,” the bench observed.
Initially, Sahara counsel Kapil Sibal said they also came to know about it later.
However, Sebi counsel Arvind Datar told the court the attachment orders were issued by the I-T department in March 2015 and the group had told the court these properties were available for sale over a year later.
Sibal pleaded ignorance and said his client Roy was ready to give an unconditional undertaking that he would settle all the dues in about “one and a half years”.
The bench said any such process could not be done without the knowledge of Sebi.
Thakur said, “It is not the time to ask for one-and-a-half years. It is not the first time you are giving a roadmap. …There is no faith left.”
Later, the bench agreed to consider the proposal, provided amicus curiae Shekar Naphade and the Sebi agreed.
Naphade said, “It has to be a concrete scheme. The periodical payments of Rs 300 crore and Rs 500 crore are not working.”
The court asked the group and Sebi to come up with the exact amount due with and without interest after accounting for the various payments made by the group. The group had initially deposited Rs 5,120 crore. Later, in various instalments towards bail amount, it had paid Rs 5,576 crore.
In the latest auction process, Sebi could complete sale of only two properties, which fetched Rs 61.44 crore. The court refused to allow a plea by Tamil Nadu-based realtors, who had purchased some properties in the Sebi auction, asking that the certificate for sale be issued to them despite the I-T attachment.
Sebi said it would refund the sums they had paid, but executing the sale was not possible as it would be void.
