Sahara gets last chance to raise funds

The Supreme Court on Friday granted Sahara Group the last chance to negotiate selling of its offshore properties for raising Rs 10,000 crore to ensure the release of its chief Subrato Roy.

Roy has been in jail since March 4 last over failure to refund over Rs 20,000 crore to depositors in his company.

A three-judge bench presided by Justice T S Thakur agreed to give another chance to the embattled group after senior advocate Kapil Sibal sought further time for collecting money.
The court, though was inclined to appoint a ‘court receiver’ for alienating the assets of the group, refrained from passing such an order.

“The outline of the proposed deal has to be shared within a week with the Securities and Exchange Board of India and amicus curiae,” the bench, also comprising Justice Anil R Dave and Justice A K Sikri said indicating that two to three months time can be given for working out the proposed deal.

However, the bench declined a plea for extension of special facilities to Roy in Tihar Jail precincts to negotiate the proposed deals.

More time per day
It only agreed to extend the time of two hours a day earlier allowed to interact with potential buyers by another three hours keeping in view the international time zone with the facility of two laptops and mobile phones.

The apex court had asked 65-year-old Roy to pay Rs 10,000 crore to get bail, out of which Rs 5,000 crore should be paid back in cash and rest in bank guarantees.

During the hearing, Sahara Group blamed  Mirach Capital for the failure of the second proposed deal for selling of its offshore properties.