Sahara chief Subrata Roy will stay in jail, the Supreme
Court today ruled, asking the company to come up with a proposal to refund
crores to its investors.
"We will consider your plea for bail only if you come
up with some proposal on payment of money. The key is in your hands," the
court said, rejecting Mr Roy's argument that his detention was "illegal
and draconian."
When Sahara offered to pay RS 2500 crore right away, the
court said it had already turned down this proposal. A battery of senior
lawyers, including Ram Jethmalani, Ravi Shankar Prasad and R Dhawan failed to
win relief for the Sahara chief, who will now have to wait for the next hearing
on March 25.
Mr Roy and two Sahara directors have been in Delhi's Tihar
jail since March 4.
His lawyers said that the Supreme Court "had made
substantive mistakes in its order" sending Mr Roy to judicial custody that
day. They argued that he had not been found guilty of any wrongdoing.
The 65-year-old Sahara chief was arrested on February 28
after he failed to convince judges that he is serious about repaying nearly
20,000 crores for two Sahara bond schemes that were declared illegal in 2012.
The court had last week rejected Sahara's proposal to repay
thousands of crores to small investors as "dishonest."
Mr Roy's lawyers argued for his release, saying he is needed
to participate in negotiations to raise the money needed for the refund.
