Apex court told of facilities needed by Roy for asset sale

The Supreme Court on Friday heard facilities that could be given to Sahara group chief Subrata Roy (in Tihar jail) to negotiate a sale of his three hotels in London and New York.

It asked the Delhi government to bring a viable proposal on Wednesday.

The bench said the request by Roy was unprecedented. "It should not create a precedent." Roy, in jail since March 4 and unable to raise Rs 10,000 crore for bail, has pleaded for facilities like Wifi, video conferencing, two or three secretaries, computer and printers and a 24-hour secretariat.

His counsel stressed the need for absolute privacy, because mention in the media about prospective buyers or prices could disturb negotiations and lead to a distress sale. The new senior counsel K T S Tulsi said, "A few persons have shown interest in buying the properties. Roy should be able to talk to one person at a time according to the time zones. The clients are in eastern and western time zones. So the time for the conference facilities should be flexible. If adequate facilities are provided, some progress will be made in a week." There was a shake-up in the legal team after the last week's order. Rajeev Dhavan was no longer there. Judge T S Thakur observed the Sahara boss and two directors lodged in Barrack 3 should not be "more comfortable than they deserve and the maximum facility that can be given is to sit across and talk to prospective buyers." The judge said giving all the facilities would be like setting up a whole Sahara office in the jail.