Subrata Roy may have to play holi inside Tihar jail and stay put there till Mar 25 with the Supreme Court today remaining unyielding on his bail plea after the Sahara group failed to come out with a new proposal for refunding Rs 20,000 crore of investors money.
The apex court said that it would consider his bail plea only if the group comes out with new proposal for refunding the money and turned down its offer of paying Rs 2,500 crore now and rest in instalments, which was rejected earlier too.
"We will consider if there is a new proposal," a bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and J S Khehar observed when at the fag end of the two-hour hearing Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani pleaded for bail so that he can be with his family for holi.
"Prayer made by Ram Jethmalani, learned senior counsel for the petitioner, for bail cannot be considered at this juncture, since no written proposal for payment in compliance with the directions issued by this Court has been made so far," the bench said in its order.
Jethmalani, appearing for 65-year old Roy who has been in jail since March 4, pleaded that he should be granted bail to celebrate holi with his family and also to spend time with his mother, who is critically ill.
"We have repeatedly been saying what is your proposal. Tell us how much you can pay," the bench said adding "The key is in your hands".
Jethmalani, however, said that it is not possible to raise more money as nobody can come to our help till Roy remains in jail and that only he can arrange the money.
Turning it down, the bench posted Roy's plea against his detention order for March 25 as Jethmalani expressed his inability to argue the case tomorrow. The court will not be working next week due to holi vacation.
