SEBI's Refund To Sahara Group Investors Reach To Rs 138 Crore In 11 Years

The Supreme Court on August 31, 2012 upheld SEBI's directions asking the two Sahara firms to refund the money collected from investors with 15 per cent interest

Sahara was eventually asked to deposit an estimated Rs 24,000 crore with the SEBI for further refund to investors, though the group has been maintaining that it had already refunded more than 95 per cent of investors directly.

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The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has made refunds of Rs 138.07 crore to investors of two Sahara companies in 11 years, while the amount deposited in specially-opened bank accounts for the repayment has surged to more than Rs 25,000 crore, the PTI said. These disclosures have been made by the regulator in its latest annual report.

According to the report, in the absence of claims from a majority of the bondholders of the two Sahara firms, which were asked to return the money to nearly 3 crore investors along with interest in August 2012 through a Supreme Court order, the total amount refunded by SEBI inched up by just about Rs 7 lakh during the last fiscal, 2022-23, while the balance in SEBI-Sahara refund accounts rose by Rs 1,087 crore during the year.

The SEBI said it received 19,650 applications involving 53,687 accounts as on March 31, 2023. Of these, "refunds have been made with respect to 17,526 applications involving 48,326 accounts for an aggregate amount of Rs 138.07 crore including the interest amount of Rs 67.98 crore." The remaining applications were closed either due to their records not being traceable in the data provided by two Sahara Group firms, Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd (SIREL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd (SHICL).

In its previous update, the SEBI had put the total amount refunded by it as of March 31, 2022 at Rs 138 crore concerning 17,526 applications. The SEBI said pursuant to various orders passed by the Supreme Court and the attachment orders passed by the regulator, an aggregate amount of Rs 15,646.68 crore has been recovered by it as of March 31, 2023.

"This amount along with the accrued interest after due refunds to the eligible bondholders, was deposited in nationalised banks in terms of the judgment dated August 31, 2012 of the Supreme Court. As on March 31, 2023, the total amount deposited in nationalised banks is around Rs 25,163 crore," the SEBI said.

This amount stood at Rs 24,076 crore, Rs 23,191 crore, and Rs 21,770.70 crore as of March 31, 2022, March 31, 2021, and March 31, 2020, respectively. The SEBI had ordered SIREL and SHICL in 2011 to refund the money raised from investors through certain bonds known as Optionally Fully Convertible Bonds (OFCDs) after the regulator ruled that the funds were raised by the two firms in violation of its rules and regulations.

After a long process of appeals and cross-appeals, the Supreme Court on August 31, 2012 upheld SEBI's directions asking the two firms to refund the money collected from investors with 15 per cent interest. Sahara was eventually asked to deposit an estimated Rs 24,000 crore with the SEBI for further refund to investors, though the group has been maintaining that it had already refunded more than 95 per cent of investors directly.

Last month, the central government started the process to refund Rs 5,000 crore of depositors whose funds are struck in four cooperative societies of Sahara Group.