S.E.B.I. versus SAHARA INDIA REAL ESTATE CORPORATION LTD.

Citation: [2014] 13 S.C.R. 1036 · Decided: 22-07-2014 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: T.S. THAKUR · Disposal: Disposed off
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Judgment (excerpt)

A 
B 
c 
(2014] 13 S.C.R. 1036 
S.E.B.I. 
v. 
SAHARA INDIA REAL ESTATE CORPORATION LTD. 
&ORS. 
I.A. Nos. 8-9 & 10-12of2014 
in 
Contempt Petition (C) No. 412 of 2012 
in 
Civil Appeal No. 9813 of 2011 
JULY22, 2014 
[T. S. THAKUR, ANIL R. DAVE AND A. K. SIKRI, JJ.] 
D 
Contempt of Court - Contemnors committed to jail on 
account of their failure to comply with directions of the 
Supreme Court- Interim bail order passed by Supreme Court 
requiring them to deposit Rs. 10, 0001- crores -Applications 
filed by contemnors seeking various directions - Prayer by 
E Shri Subrata Roy Sahara for temporary/conditional release 
from judicial custody - Further, prayer by Saharas for 
permission to obtain bank guarantee of Rs. 5, 0001- crores by 
leveraging three overseas hotel properties - Held: On facts, 
contemnors cannot be granted parole as prayed for- Nothing 
F to show that Shri Subrata Roy Sahara suffered from any 
serious medical condition - Alternative ground for parole, 
viz. facilitating negoiiations with prospective purchasers of 
property offered for sale by Saharas, also not justified - No 
legal impediment in permitting the sale of offshore properties 
G owned by Saharas for raising funds for compliance with the 
order of Court - Three offshore hotel properties owned by 
Saharas allowed to be transferred, sold or encumbered 
subject to conditions - Bail. 
Parole - Entitlement of 
H 
1036 
S.E.8.1. v. SAHARA IN DIA REAL ESTATE CORPN. LTD. 
1037 
Disposing of the applications, the Court 
A 
HELD:1. The anxiety on the part of the Saharas 
generally and the contemnors in particular to sell the 
offshore properties is understandable especially when 
such sale and transfer is not only going to help Saharas 
in liquidating the outstanding loan amount payable to 8 
the Bank of China but leave sufficient surplus with the 
Sahai'as to not only deposit the balance of Rs.2,000/-
crores approximately that needs to be immediately paid 
by them but also furnish a bank guarantee for a sum of 
Rs.5,000/- crores, as directed. There is therefore no legal C 
impediment in permitting the sale of the offshore 
properties owned by Saharas. [Para 11][1046-C-F] 
2. There is nothing to show that Shri Subrata Roy 
Sahara suffers from any serious medi~al condition. At 0 
any rate, one expects the jail doctors to keep a check on 
his medical condition and provide necessary medical aid 
as and when required. The alternative ground urged for 
the grant of parole also does not stand closer scrutiny. 
There is, at present, no concrete proposal with Saharas E 
for sale of the properties situate in India or abroad that 
may call for any negotiation by Shri Subrata Roy Sahara. 
[Para 13)[1047-G-H; 1048-A-B] 
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: I.A. No. 8-9 and 
10-12 of2014. 
F 
in 
Contempt Petition (C) No. 412 of2012 
in 
Civil Appeal No. 9813 of 2011 
[Application on behalf of Sahara India Read Estate 
Corporation Limited (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing 
Investment Corporation Limited (SHICL) for modification of 
order dated 21.11.2013] 
G 
H 
1038 
A 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
(2014] 13 S.C.R. 
With 
I.A. Nos. 8-9 and 10-12 in Contempt Petition (C) No. 413 
of 2012 in Civil Appeal No. 9833of2011 
And 
B 
I .A. Nos. 10-12 in Contempt Petition© No. 260 of 2013 
in Civil Appeal No. 8643of2012 
Arvind P. Datar, Sr. Adv., Tushar Mehta ASG., Pratap 
Venugopal, Ms. Meenakshi Chauhan, Gaurav Nair, P.K. Jha, 
Anuj Sarma (For Mis. K.J. John & Co.), Vishwa Pal Singh, 
c Mrs. Anil Katiyar and Arijit Prasad , Advs. for the Appellants. 
D 
Raj iv Dhavan, S. Ganesh, Sr. Ad vs., Gaurav Kejriwal and 
Keshav Mohan, Advs. for the Respondents. 
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 
T. S. THAKUR, J. 
1. By our order dated 4th June, 2014 we had, while 
declining the prayer made by the contemnors for modification 
of the terms on which they were granted interim bail, partially 
modified order dated 21st November, 2013 passed by this 
E Court and that passed by SEBI on 131h February, 2013 so as 
to enable Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Limited 
(SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Limited 
(SHICL) (hereinafter referred to as 'Saharas' for short) to 
deposit with SEBI the maturity value/sale consideration of FDs, 
F bonds and securities held by the Saharas. We had also, by 
the same order, permitted Saharas to sell nine different 
properties situate in nine different cities in the country and to 
deposit the sale proceeds thereof with SEBI, to the extent th
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