The undistributed funds totalling over Rs 25,000 crore mendacity with the capital markets regulator Sebi’s account have come again into focus after the demise of Sahara Group’s chief Subrata Roy.
Roy handed away in Mumbai on Tuesday night time on the age of 75 after battling a chronic sickness.
Also Read: Ups and Downs Of Subrata Roy Sahara, Who Created A Rs 2.5-Lakh-Crore Conglomerate Out Of Nothing
He confronted a number of regulatory and authorized battles in connection together with his group companies that had been accused of circumventing rules with Ponzi schemes, allegations his group at all times denied.
In 2011, capital markets regulator Sebi ordered two Sahara Group companies — Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd (SIREL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd (SHICL) — to refund the cash raised from practically 3 crore buyers by means of sure bonds referred to as Optionally Fully Convertible Bonds (OFCDs).
This order got here after the regulator dominated that the funds had been raised by the 2 companies in violation of its guidelines and rules. After a protracted technique of appeals and cross-appeals, the Supreme Court on August 31, 2012 upheld Sebi’s instructions asking the 2 companies to refund the cash collected from buyers with 15 per cent curiosity.
Sahara was finally requested to deposit an estimated Rs 24,000 crore with Sebi for additional refund to buyers, although the group has been sustaining that it had already refunded greater than 95 per cent of buyers immediately.
According to the capital markets regulator’s newest annual report, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) issued Rs 138.07 crore in refunds over 11 years to buyers of two Sahara Group companies.
Meanwhile, the quantity deposited in specifically-opened financial institution accounts for the reimbursement has risen to greater than Rs 25,000 crore. In the absence of claims from a majority of the bondholders of the 2 Sahara corporations, the overall quantity refunded by Sebi inched up by nearly Rs 7 lakh over the last fiscal 2022-23, whereas the stability in Sebi-Sahara refund accounts rose by Rs 1,087 crore through the yr.
Going by the annual report, Sebi obtained 19,650 purposes involving 53,687 accounts as of March 31, 2023. Of these, “refunds have been made concerning 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 purposes had been closed on account of their data not being traceable within the knowledge offered by two Sahara Group companies.
In its earlier replace, Sebi had put the overall quantity refunded by it as of March 31, 2022, at Rs 138 crore regarding 17,526 purposes.
Further, Sebi stated beneath varied orders handed by the Supreme Court and the attachment orders handed by the regulator, an mixture quantity of Rs 15,646.68 crore has been recovered by it as of March 31, 2023. This quantity together with the accrued curiosity after due refunds to the eligible bondholders was deposited in nationalised banks by way of the judgment dated August 31, 2012, of the Supreme Court.
As of March 31, 2023, the overall quantity deposited in nationalised banks is round Rs 25,163 crore,” Sebi acknowledged. This quantity 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.
Meanwhile, the Centre in August began the method to refund Rs 5,000 crore of depositors whose funds are struck in 4 cooperative societies of Sahara Group.
Before this, Cooperation Minister Amit Shah launched the ’CRCS-Sahara Refund Portal’ in July to facilitate the return of the cash to buyers. Around 18 lakh depositors have been registered on the portal.
In March, the federal government introduced that the cash could be returned to 10 crore buyers of the 4 cooperative societies inside 9 months.
The announcement adopted a Supreme Court order directing the switch of Rs 5,000 crore from the Sahara-Sebi refund account to the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies (CRCS).
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – PTI)
