Roy can’t be kept under house arrest: Supreme Court

A recent photo of Sahara India Pariwar Chairman Subrata Roy at the Supreme Court premises, when his face was smeared with ink by a lawyer. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down Sahara chief Subrata Roy’s plea that he be put under house arrest till next week so that he could hold negotiations with foreign investors for arranging money to repay investors.

A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and J.S. Khehar told senior counsel Ram Jethmalani that Mr. Roy had not been arrested but was sent to judicial custody.

Justice Khehar clarified that Mr. Roy was neither in a criminal nor civil prison but was “in the Supreme Court’s custody.” “Had he been arrested under the Civil Procedure Code, we would have sent him to a civil prison. He is in our custody and he can’t be kept under house arrest,” he said.