New Delhi: Having scanned the details of total wealth possessed by Sahara Chief Subrata Roy both in India and abroad, the Supreme Court put forth a question on Wednesday asking “why a mega chief group would be in jail for two years for not paying his dues that didn’t even add up to a fraction of his personal wealth”?
Surprised by the extent Sahara Chief’s wealth, the bench said, “Your wealth and assets are huge and valued at a price that is far bigger than the liabilities. A person with this kind of wealth, why did he suffer two years of incarceration and not pay up the dues? Why is he reluctant to pay?"
The apex court pointed out these questions when Roy’s counsel Kapil Sibal submitted a list of his assets and wealth during the hearing of his plea for extension of parole.
Sibal had presented a sealed cover document to the bench that included the details of Roy’s properties in India and moveable assets that he owns abroad.
However, Sibal requested the bench to not let the total value be out in open and said, "Please keep it secret and in sealed cover. If Roy is released for six more months he will pay every penny that is due from him. Market regulator Sebi can independently sell the assets.”
The court on Wednesday extended the parole granted to Sahara till July 11 to enable him to deposit Rs 200 crore with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
On May 6, he was granted two weeks’ parole by the top court to perform the last rites of his mother who passed away a day earlier.
Extending the parole, the apex court asked Roy and Sahara Group director Ashok Roy Chaudhary to furnish individual undertakings that they are serious in the effort to deposit the amount with the capital markets regulator.
Failure to do so by July 11 will result in Roy landing back in Tihar jail where he was housed since May 4, 2014, till the grant of parole.
Roy is charged for his company’s failure to return about Rs 25,000 crore collected from small investors in the form of debentures later declared as illegal by stock market regulator SEBI and the Supreme Court.
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