After Subrata Roy's Apology, Supreme Court To Reconsider Back-To-Jail Order

The Supreme Court will reconsider its order of sending Subrata Roy back to jail after the Sahara chief apologised for the behaviour of one of his lawyers, Rajeev Dhavan, in the court.
 
Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, appearing for Sahara chief, conveyed Mr Roy's apology to the top court.
 
"It was an ad hoc arrangement and he went beyond his brief. Whatever statements he made were uncalled for," Mr Sibal said. 

Mr Sibal, who was unwell, came to court specifically after Supreme Court cancelled Mr Roy's parole and pleaded with the court to withdraw its earlier order. 

Chief Justice TS Thakur, who headed the bench, said: "One can't browbeat the court and throw your weight around. It is also painful for us. It is not we demand respect but the system."
 
The Chief Justice said he will speak to the other two judges who are in the bench and reconsider withdrawing earlier order of cancelling Mr Roy's parole.
 
Mr Roy was out on parole since May, after spending two years at Delhi's Tihar Jail. 

"You are going back to jail," the court earlier said today, rejecting a plea by Mr Roy's lawyer Rajeev Dhavan to extend parole for some more time. The 68-year-old head of the Sahara group had been granted parole when his mother died in May this year, and it had been extended several times since, the last for a week on September 16.

Mr Dhavan termed the court's statement as "unfair", arguing that Sahara couldn't sell its properties as they had been attached by market regulator Sebi. The market regulator had earlier argued that the most of the properties in the list given by Sahara are already attached so it can't sell them. 

The judges however did not accept Mr Dhavan's arguments.

"Don't tell us what to do. Interim arrangement stands cancelled. Take Roy and two others (directors of Sahara group) be taken back to custody, "they said.

After the court's order, Mr Dhavan, the lawyer for Sahara, told the court, "You are passing this order in anger."

"No question of anger," said Chief Justice TS Thakur, who headed the bench. 

The top court had earlier this month asked the Sahara Group to disclose how it had raised Rs 25,000 crore to pay back its investors in cash, observing that it was "difficult to digest" as such a huge amount "cannot fall from the heavens."