Supreme Court rejects Sahara chief’s exemption plea

The court had earlier allowed SEBI to go ahead with the sale of the group's properties.

February 25, 2014 01:33 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 07:51 pm IST - New Delhi

A file photo of Subrata Roy, founder and chairman of the Sahara India.

A file photo of Subrata Roy, founder and chairman of the Sahara India.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to exempt Subrata Roy and other directors of the Sahara Group from personal appearance and said they would have to turn up in court on Wednesday to explain their failure to honour their commitment to refund Rs. 20,000 crore in deposits to investors.

A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and J.S. Khehar observed: “It involved not only the integrity of the Supreme Court but also of judges and lawyers involved in the matter. It is said the order of the Supreme Court is not being complied with. We may retire but we will make sure that our orders are complied with.”

PTI adds:

Mr. Roy’s plea was mentioned before a bench comprising justices K. S. Radhakrishnan and J. S. Khehar which said he has to appear on Wednesday.

Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, appearing for Mr. Roy, submitted that he will make the payment and he may be distanced with personal appearance in the court. However, the bench said Mr. Roy has not complied with its order and that is why he was summoned.

The bench had on February 20, 2014 come down heavily on the Sahara group for not refunding Rs. 20,000 crore of investors money despite its order and summoned Subrata Roy, Ravi Shankar Dubey, Ashok Roy Choudhary and Vandana Bhargava, directors of its firms- Sahara India Real Estate Corp Ltd (SIREC) and Sahara India Housing Investment Corp Ltd (SHIC) to be personally present before it on Wednesday.

The court had earlier allowed SEBI to go ahead with the sale of properties of the group whose sale deeds were handed over to the market regulator to recover Rs. 20,000 crore.

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