Failing health and scorching heat in jail forced Sahara chief Subrata Roy to attempt an unprecedented step on Wednesday as his lawyer asked the Supreme Court to indicate in advance the order it proposed to pass against him.
Since March 4, Roy and two directors of the Sahara Group have been in judicial custody in Tihar Jail as they failed to honour several orders of the apex court directing deposition of Rs20,000 crore to SEBI after serious questions were raised on a debenture scheme floated by two Sahara firms.
With the Supreme Court fixing Rs10,000 crore to be deposited as a condition for release, an anxious Roy appeared through his lawyer in court and asked whether the court was willing to accept the company’s proposal to pay Rs3,000 crore upfront followed by Rs2,000 crore in cash within a month and a bank guarantee of Rs5,000 crore thereafter. “If it’s an aye, we are well with it. But if it’s a no, then we may consider giving a fresh proposal,” said senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Roy.
Dhavan pressed for an urgent order, indicating, “The temperatures have soared and the condition of this person (Roy) is not well.” The Bench of Justices KS Radhakrishnan and JS Khehar refused to give any assurance as they left the courtroom.
The out-of-turn mention by Dhavan came while the court was considering a contempt petition against a lawyer Manoj Sharma who threw ink on the face of Roy on the day he was brought to Supreme Court on March 4. The court took suo moto cognisance of the incident that occurred in the SC precincts when Roy came acting on a court summon requiring his production. The incident was seen as an interference with the judicial process for which a notice was issued to the contemnor.
The contemnor, Sharma, appeared in court and sought four weeks time to file his response. The Bench meanwhile said, “Whenever a person is brought to court, he feels he is a criminal as media and everybody else are after him. This is happening all over the country.” The matter was posted to July 14 with the Bench keen to devise methods to protect persons summoned by court.