Sahara chief Subrata Roy at Lucknow airport on Friday after being allowed to leave prison for four weeks for the funeral of his mother. (PTI Photo)
Highlights
- Sahara chief Subrata Roy arrested in March 2014
- Sahara unable to raise Rs. 10,000 crore sought as his bail
- 4-week parole granted by Supreme Court after his mother's death
Sahara chief Subrata Roy, in prison in Delhi since March 2014, has been allowed to leave prison for four weeks for the funeral of his mother Chhabi Roy, who died on Friday morning.
Mr Roy, 67, was released from Tihar Jail on Friday evening. He was arrested after the group failed to comply with a court order to refund money raised from millions of small investors by selling them bonds later ruled to be illegal. His bail had been set at Rs 10,000 crores by the Supreme Court in earlier hearings. The Sahara group has failed to raise that money.
The temporary parole granted to him now is on humanitarian grounds. The court said plainclothesmen would be with Mr Roy while he is out on parole.
Sahara, a household name in India as the former main sponsor of the national cricket team, has some prized assets including New York's Plaza Hotel, the Grosvenor House in London, Sahara Star hotel in Mumbai and a stake in a Formula One racing team.
The group has been trying to raise funds since Mr Roy's arrest, but has failed in several past bids to comply with the top court's order to return 360 billion rupees ($5.3 billion) to investors in the banned bond plan.