Interview on ‘fair business’ resurfaces after Confident Group founder C J Roy’s death during I-T raid

Thiruvananthapuram: With Confident Group founder chairman C J Roy ending life amidst an Income Tax raid, an interview in which the Malayali businessman highlights his thrust on fair business practices is getting noticed.

We follow all rules. Don't go for shortcuts. Go by rules so that tomorrow you won't have to answer for some problems when you don't have an answer," Roy says in an interview.

He was referring to reports that Confident Group was involved in coastal regulatory zone rule violations while four flats were demolished in Kochi in 2020.

Roy had clarified that even as Confident Group had acquired land for an apartment complex and started taking bookings, once they came to know about the CRZ violation involved the project was abandoned in the initial stage itself and all booking amounts were returned to customers with interest.

The name C J Roy is as popular as his firm Confident Group in Kerala as he has been a familiar face in many popular television programmes as sponsor.

Even as he has his roots in Thrissur, he hardly spent his childhood here. He belongs to the Chiriyankandathu family.

Former union minister K V Thomas, who had personal connections with Roy, feels that Roy was a quite emotional and down to earth person despite heading a business empire. "He was a down to earth person. He himself has built up his business through hardship. I often felt that he was an emotional person. He was quite mad about cars. His manager in Kerala is a native of my place Kumbalangi (on the suburbs of Kochi). Hence I often used to hear about Roy through him," Thomas said.

Roy, who produced four Malayalam films, including Mohanlal starrer 'Casanovva' and 'Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham', is a prominent figure in the Malayalam film industry too and even enjoyed celebrity status. 'Anomie' starring Bhavana and Rahman was the latest film he produced. Roy was known for his generosity as he offered jaw-dropping prizes to winners of reality shows.

Confident Group has its presence in almost all cities in Kerala. At present around 20 projects of Confident group are in various stages of constriction in Kerala.