Supreme Court extends parole of Sahara chief Subrata Roy till October 24

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended parole of Sahara chief Subrata Roy till October 24. The apex court has also asked him to deposit Rs 200 crore with SEBI by then.

SC also directed Sahara to submit road map or scheme for depositing the balance amount to secure Roy's release on bail.

While extending the parole of Roy and two directors -- Ashok Roy Choudhary and Ravi Shankar Dubey-- till October 24, the bench directed the group to deposit Rs 200 crore by then, failing which they will be committed to jail.

During the hearing, the bench wanted to know from Sahara and SEBI about the amount so far deposited by the group and when the break-up was given in fragmentation. It asked the parties to come out with the exact figure on next date of hearing.

On September 23, the apex court has said that Sahara chief Subrata Roy and the two other directors will have to surrender to custody in a week, after it terminated the "interim arrangement" of granting parole to them.

It, however, on insistence from senior advocate Kapil Sibal fixed today for the hearing the plea seeking modification of the court's order.

Supreme Court had on September 16 extended the parole of the Sahara chief till September 23, which was granted to him in May after his mother passed away.

The parole continued later to enable him arrange money to refund his investors. Roy's parole was extended on August 3 with a condition that he has to deposit Rs 300 crore with SEBI.

The apex court on September 2 had asked the Sahara Group to come clean by disclosing its sources from where it had raised Rs 25,000 crore and paid its investors in cash, observing that it is "difficult to digest" as such a huge amount "cannot fall from the heavens."

The apex court had granted parole to Roy on May 6 for four weeks on humanitarian ground following the death of his mother Chhabi Roy in Lucknow after prolonged illness.

It had said they were free to meet prospective buyers of properties and move within the country under police escort.

Roy has been lodged in Tihar jail since March 4, 2014 on the orders of the apex court in relation with a long running dispute with market regulator SEBI.

With PTI Inputs