South Asia
Sahara chief Subrata Roy arrested
Lucknow, Feb 28: The Lucknow Police on Friday arrested Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy.
He was arrested around 10.30 am.
Meanwhile, his lawyer Ram Jethmalani informed the Supreme Court about his arrest.
Though Jethmalani wanted the Supreme Court to hear Roy\'s application for recalling his arrest warrant, the apex court ruled that the Sahara chief will have to be in police custody till Mar 3.
The SC will hear the matter on Mar 4.
Roy on Friday said he is not absconding.
In a media statement issued on Friday morning, Roy said: "I am not absconding. I am in Lucknow. With folded hands and all humility I ask the honourable judges to leave me under house arrest with my ailing mother."
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday failed to arrest Roy as they could not locate him.
A police team on Thursday arrived at Roy\'s house in Lucknow city, saying it would comply with the Supreme Court\'s order to arrest him, but failed as he was not at home, media reports said.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a non-bailable warrant against Roy and ordered his arrest for defying its summons to appear in court.
On Tuesday, the apex court dismissed Roy\'s plea for exemption from personal appearance before it.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had summoned Roy for his company\'s failure to "refund Rs 20,000 crore" raised from small investors.
The Supreme Court last November had barred Roy from leaving the country and also restrained it from selling any of its properties.
The bench of judges K S Radhakrishnan and J S Khehar also said that market regulator SEBI can sell the properties of the diversified conglomerate to recover the money.
Earlier, the court had directed Sahara to hand over the title deeds of its properties worth Rs 20,000 crore to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Accusing Sahara Group of playing \'hide and seek\', the Supreme Court on Oct 29 asked the group to hand over the title deeds of its properties worth Rs 20,000 crore to the SEBI.
Hearing contempt petitions filed by the SEBI for not complying with the Aug 31, 2012 directions on refund of deposits, the court had ruled that Sahara chief Subrata Roy cannot leave the country without the permission of the court.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
