NEW DELHI: Sahara Chief Subrata Roy Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking its permission for shifting him from the prison cell to Tihar jail guest house situated within its premises to enable him to hold negotiations to sell his properties in India and abroad to raise Rs 10,000 crore to deposit with SEBI as directed to get regular bail.
The application in this regard was mentioned before a bench headed by Justice T S Thakur which asked the apex court registry to list the matter before the special bench hearing the matter. The bench said it will look into the application and seek the response of jail authorities when it comes for hearing.
The application filed through advocate Keshav Mohan said Saharas' are preferring the place within the jail compound keeping in view the safety and security of persons likely to visit its chief for buying the properties, both in India and abroad.
It said that prospective buyers want Roy himself to be present during all negotiations and Saharas sought that he be permanently shifted to Tihar guest house which does not have the typical jail environment and restrictions and buyers can be directly brought there without any hindrance.
Saharas have also sought lifting of restriction of six hours a day granted to Roy and two other jailed directors for negotiations.
Roy along with two senior Sahara officials – Ashok Roy Chaudhary and Ravi Shankar Dubey are presently lodged in Tihar Jail.
The apex court on Tuesday had refused to release Roy, who has been behind bars for nearly five months, on interim bail or parole but had allowed selling of his luxury hotels in New York and London to raise money to deposit Rs 10,000 crore with SEBI as directed to get regular bail.
The apex court, however, had assured 65-year-old Roy that it will allow him to go out of jail during day time under police custody to hold negotiations with buyers to dispose of his properties.
The bench, also comprising justices Anil R Dave and A K Sikri had asked him to approach the court when there is a proposal and assured him that suitable arrangements would be made by it.
The bench, which had earlier allowed Sahara to sell nine properties in the country, permitted it to sell hotels Dream Downtown and The Plaza in New York and Grosvenor House in London.
It also appointed senior advocate Shekhar Naphade as amicus curiae to assist the court in dealing with the case in which the group is supposed to pay around Rs 37,000 crore to wind up the proceedings in the apex court.
Roy, who was sent to jail on March 4 this year for non- refund of over Rs 20,000 crore to depositors, was asked by the court to pay Rs 10,000 crore to get bail, out of which Rs 5,000 crore in cash and rest of the amount in bank guarantee.
Sahara has so far raised Rs 3,117 crore which has been deposited with the market regulator.
The group, however, has been claiming that it has already repaid money to 93 per cent investors.