No respite for Subrata Roy as SC denies bail

Subrata Roy may have to play holi inside Tihar jail and stay put there till March 25 with the Supreme Court on Thursday remaining unyielding on his bail plea after the Sahara group failed to come out with a new proposal for refunding Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) of investors money.

The apex court said that it would consider his bail plea only if the group comes out with new proposal for refunding the money and turned down its offer of paying Rs 2,500 crore (Rs 25 billion) now and rest in instalments, which was rejected earlier too.

"We will consider if there is a new proposal," a bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and J S Khehar observed when at the fag end of the two-hour hearing Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani pleaded for bail so that he can be with his family for holi.

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"Prayer made by Ram Jethmalani, learned senior counsel for the petitioner, for bail cannot be considered at this juncture, since no written proposal for payment in compliance with the directions issued by this Court has been made so far," the bench said in its order.

Jethmalani, appearing for 65-year old Roy who has been in jail since March 4, pleaded that he should be granted bail to celebrate holi with his family and also to spend time with his mother, who is critically ill.

"We have repeatedly been saying what is your proposal. Tell us how much you can pay," the bench said, adding, "The key is in your hands".

Jethmalani, however, said that it is not possible to raise more money as nobody can come to our help till Roy remains in jail and that only he can arrange the money.

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Turning it down, the bench posted Roy's plea against his detention order for March 25 as Jethmalani expressed his inability to argue the case on Friday.

The court will not be working next week due to holi vacation.

The special bench, which assembled at 2 PM to conduct hearing on Roy's petition challenging its detention order, heard the case  amidst tight security. Some security personnel of the Delhi police were present in the court room.

The hearing, during which Roy's counsel submitted that his detention was ‘illegal and unconstitutional’, was conducted in a relaxed atmosphere in which the judges and the lawyers exchanged a lot of banter.

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At the outset, the bench said it found nothing embarrassing in the petition as submitted on Wednesday by Jethmalani while questioning the validity of its order.

"We have gone through the petition and nothing is embarrassing (for the bench) in it. You can argue the case, including on the issue of maintainability," the bench said while asking Jethmalani whether there is any new proposal on payment.

This was an apparent reference to Jethmalani on Wednesday saying it would be a little embarrassing for him argue before the bench that its order  needed rectification.

"With the incarceration, things have gone worse.

“People expect nothing in return from a man inside jail.

“We can provide the best solution of the problem only if he comes out. Nobody is going to help us if I remain in jail," Jethmalani said, adding, "Bail is my right and don't make things difficult for me".