Supreme Court Allows Disbursal Of Rs 5000 Crores From SEBI-Sahara Fund To Depositors; Former SC Judge To Monitor Disbursement

The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed an application filed by the Central Government seeking allocation of ₹ 5,000 crore out of ₹ 24,979 crores deposited by the Sahara group with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to repay the dues of the depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies.

The Court ordered that out of the total amount of Rs. 24,979.67 Crores lying in the “Sahara-SEBI Refund Account”, Rs. 5000 Crores be transferred to the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies, who, in turn, shall disburse the same against the legitimate dues of the depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies. The amounts should be paid to the genuine depositors in the most transparent manner and on proper identification and on submitting proof of their deposits and proof of their claims. The amounts are to be deposited in their respective bank accounts directly

The bench directed that the disbursal of the funds shall be under the supervision of the former Supreme Court judge Justice R Subhash Reddy. Advocate Gaurav Agarwal has been appointed as amicus curiae to assist Justice Reddy. Rs. 15 lakhs per month be paid to Justice Reddy and Rs. 5 lakhs per month be paid to Agarwal towards their honorarium.

The Court further directed that the amount be paid to the genuine depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies out of the aforesaid amount of Rs. 5,000 Crores at the earliest, but not later than nine months from today.

A bench comprising Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar observed that the Centre's application "seems to be reasonable and in the larger public interest"  when it is reported that the amount lying in the “Sahara-SEBI Refund Account” is unutilized and the genuine depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies are otherwsie be entitled to get back their money

The direction were passed on an application filed by the Centre in a PIL by a person named Pinak Pani Mohanty, who sought a direction to pay the amount to the depositors who invested in several chit fund companies and Sahara credit firms.

Case Title : Pinak Pani Mohanty vs Union of India, .IA. NO. 56308 OF 2023 IN WRIT PETITION (C) No. 191 of 2022

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 255

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