Sebi-Sahara case: SC asks Subrata Roy to deposit Rs 1,500 cr by 7 Sept; Amby Valley to be auctioned

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Sahara group chief Subrata Roy to deposit Rs 1,500 crore in the SEBI-Sahara refund account by 7 September.  The court also passed a directive to start proceedings to auction Rs 39,000 crore Amby Valley properties owned by the group. The bench  was informed by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Roy, that the Sahara chief has deposited Rs 247 crore as against the promised amount of Rs 552.21 crore which was to be deposited in the refund account by 15 July. Sibal told the bench, also comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and A K Sikri, that the balance amount of Rs 305.21 crore out of the Rs 552.21 crore would be deposited by 12 August. The bench, however, said that Rs 1,500 crore which Roy would deposit by 7 September would also include the balance amount of Rs 305.21 crore. [caption id=“attachment_3855277” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Sahara Group Chairman Subrata Roy. Reuters[/caption] The apex court extended the parole granted to him earlier till 10 October. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra asked the official liquidator of the Bombay High Court to proceed with the publication of sale notice with regard to auctioning of Sahara’s prime property at Aamby Valley. The bench fixed the matter for further hearing on 11 September. On 5 July, the apex court had noted that Roy had deposited Rs 710.22 crore in the SEBI-Sahara account, but had warned him that his cheque of Rs 552.21 crore must be realised within the 15 July deadline. Roy had earlier told the court that he will pay Rs 1,500 crore on or before 15 June and Rs 552.22 crore exactly a month thereafter. He has spent almost two years in jail and been on parole since 6 May last year. The parole was granted the first time to enable him attend the funeral of his mother. It has been extended since then. Besides Roy, two other directors – Ravi Shankar Dubey and Ashok Roy Choudhary – were arrested for failure of the group’s two companies – Sahara India Real Estate Corporation (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corp Ltd (SHICL) – to comply with the court’s August 31, 2012 order to return Rs 24,000 crore to their investors. Another company director Vandana Bhargava was not taken into custody.