Claiming that the Sahara group had failed to comply with two court orders in 2012 and 2015 to deposit the money it had collected from investors along with 15 per cent annual interest, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking it to direct the group to deposit Rs 62,600 crore, Reuters reported.
The issue stems over a bond scheme, ruled illegal, prompting Sahara to issue a refund to bondholders. However, while Sahara maintained it had already returned the money of 95 per cent of investors, SEBI had said that it had received less than 20,000 claims out of a total of around 3 crore investors.
SEBI has asked that Sahara chief Subrata Roy and two of his companies deposit the pending amount. Roy had been arrested in March of 2014 for failing to attend a contempt of court hearing, and has been out on bail since 2016.
"Saharas have made no efforts whatsoever to comply with the orders and directions," SEBI told the court. "On the other hand contemnors' liability is increasing daily and contemnors are enjoying their release from custody," it said.
Sahara, however, has denied this charge and told Reuters it had already deposited 22,000 crore with the regulator, and claimed interest had been “mischievously” added onto this. “How can there be claimants since Sahara has already paid back, long time back?” a Sahara spokesman said, as reported by The Federal. “It is a typical case of double payment.”
