The government announced on Wednesday that the funds of 10 crore investors from 4 cooperative societies of the Sahara group will be returned within 9 months, in compliance with a Supreme Court order to transfer Rs 5,000 crore from the Sahara-SEBI refund account to the Central Registrar.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court approved the Centre’s request to allocate Rs 5,000 crore from the Rs 24,000 crore deposited by the Sahara group with market regulator Sebi, in order to repay depositors of the cooperative societies.
This direction was issued in response to an application filed by the Centre in a PIL by an individual named Pinak Pani Mohanty, who sought to pay the amount to the depositors who invested in several chit fund companies and Sahara credit firms.
A bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar stated that the amount will be disbursed to depositors who were deceived by the Sahara group of cooperative societies. The entire process will be overseen by former apex court judge Justice R Subhash Reddy.
The Ministry of Cooperation, in a statement, announced that the Supreme Court’s historic decision ordered the return of deposits to approximately 10 crore investors from 4 cooperative societies of the Sahara group from the Sahara-SEBI refund account. Justice Reddy, with the assistance of Gaurav Agarwal, will complete the payment process within 9 months, the ministry said.
The payment will be made through a transparent process to valid investors of Sahara Societies through their bank accounts upon providing proof of their proper identity and deposit.
The Centre had requested funds from the Sahara-SEBI escrow account, which was established after the top court in August 2012 directed two Sahara firms, Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Limited (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing India Corporation Limited (SHICL), to refund investors.
