New Delhi, May 6 (PTI): The Supreme Court today directed release of jailed Sahara chief Subrata Roy on parole for four weeks to attend rituals following the death of his mother early this morning.

A bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur, Justices A R Dave and A K Sikri allowed the plea of Roy seeking permission to attend cremation rites of his mother.

"An application has been filed by Subrata Roy seeking provisional release as his mother passed away early this morning at Lucknow... We direct that Roy shall be released on parole for four weeks," the bench said.

Besides Roy, the apex court also granted parole to one of the jailed Sahara director Ashok Roy Choudhary.

The court, however, said that Roy would be under the protective custody of the police with an assurance from his counsel Kapil Sibal that his client would not try to escape or run away.

Roy has been in Tihar jail since March 4, 2014 on the orders of the apex court in relation with a long running dispute with market regulator SEBI. Roy's mother Chhabi Roy, 95, passed away in Lucknow today after a prolonged illness.