SC grants conditional bail to Sahara chief Subrata Roy

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked Sahara group chief Subrata Roy to deposit Rs 10,000 crore with the market regulator Sebi for his release on interim bail from judicial custody. The apex court bench of Justice KS Radhakrishnan and Justice JS Khehar said that of the Rs 10,000 crore, Rs 5,000 crore would be deposited in cash, and the balance Rs 5,000 crore will be furnished through a bank guarantee. The SC has also agreed to defreeze bank accounts of Sahara companies to raise the Rs 10,000 crore and adjourned the case for tomorrow asking the group to give details of the bank account numbers which are to be defreezed. The court declined to water down its orders as the Sahara group counsel expressed inability to raise such a huge amount while Subrata Roy is in jail. Sahara group on Tuesday had submitted a new proposal for refunding Rs 20,000 crore of investors money before the Supreme Court. Roy was sent to jail on March 4 by the top court in connection with contempt proceedings over two group companies' failure to pay Rs 20,000 crore by way of dues to market regulator Sebi.