The Supreme Court has stayed the arrest warrant of the Patna High Court against Sahara chief Subrata Roy. The High Court on Friday (13 May 2022) had issued orders to arrest the Sahara chief and present him on 16 May. Along with this, the Supreme Court has also stayed all legal proceedings in this matter till further orders.
In fact, the Patna High Court had issued an arrest warrant against Sahara India chairman Subrata Rai and directed the Bihar DGP to produce the Sahara chief in the court on May 16 at 10.30 am. Along with this, the High Court had asked the Uttar Pradesh Police Chief and the Delhi Police Commissioner to cooperate in this matter.
Subrata Rai did not reach the court: He was to appear physically in the High Court on Friday (13 May 2022), but, he did not reach the court. Angered by this, the Patna High Court ordered the DGP of Bihar to arrest Subrata Rai and present him in the court. At the same time, on behalf of Subrata Roy, the lawyer had appealed by submitting an interim application. He told the court, “I am 74 years old. Had an operation in January and am still sick. For this reason, giving relief from physical appearance, be allowed to appear in court virtually.
A single bench of Justice Sandeep Kumar, during the hearing held on April 27, 2022, had directed Subrata Roy to physically appear before the High Court on May 11 and explain how he can return the money to the investors. Since Subrata Roy did not reach the Patna High Court on the given date, the matter was adjourned till May 12.
There was an order to appear physically in the court: Earlier on Thursday (12 May 2022), the Patna High Court had strictly told Subrata Roy’s lawyer that Subrata Roy cannot be bigger than the court. They have to come by all means. Subrata Roy was in trouble after not returning Rs 24,000 crore to his investors by August 31, 2012, as directed by the court. Currently, he is out on interim bail and has already spent two years in jail in this case. Sahara Group has not returned Rs 9,000 crore to investors so far.