The Supreme Court on Friday allowed Sahara chief Subrata Roy to use the conference room in Tihar Jail for 10 working days to negotiate the sale of his offshore and domestic properties with prospective buyers in an effort to raise bond money for his interim bail.
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For this, the Home Secretary, Delhi, will issue a notification on August 4, declaring that the conference room be converted into a makeshift jail.
From August 5, Mr. Roy will be allowed to work from this room between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. He can employ three staffers — two secretaries and a technician — at his own cost. They will be frisked by security personnel.
Besides this, a three-judge Bench led by Justice T.S. Thakur allowed the Sahara group to pay for and use the wi-fi connection, video-conferencing equipment and telephones with STD/ISD facilities available in the conference room. They can use laptops and a mobile phone, provided the gadgets go through a security check.
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“This is not a substitute for liberty,” the Bench, also comprising Justices Anil Dave and A.K. Sikri, told Mr. Roy's lawyers.
Mr. Roy, 65, has been in jail for almost five months in the investor fund case.