Relief for Sahara chief Subrata Roy as Mumbai court cancels warrant

A special SEBI court in Mumbai on Friday cancelled a non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued against Sahara chief Subrata Roy on March 31.

A special court issued a warrant against Roy and three other directors, after Roy failed to appear before the court. Roy challenged the warrant before the Bombay high court.

The high court had directed Roy to appear before the court on or before May 3. On appearance, special judge Shayeda Razvi recalled the warrant. It was recalled on the condition they give an undertaking that they will attend every hearing.

The case dates back to 2012. It is alleged the companies issued optionally fully-convertable debentures to public at large in 2009 under the guide of private placement, which is in violation of SEBI act.

The officer said according to the Company Act, if a company has to collect deposit from more than 50 people, you have to take money through recognised stock exchange without listing shares.

“They had collected around Rs24,000 crore in the name of Sahara real estate corporation and Sahara housing investment corporation. This amounts to criminal offence,” the officer said. Roy and other directors of the companies are alleged to have violated Section 24 of SEBI Act. This if proved, a person can face imprisonment up to 10 years or fine of Rs25 crore.