LI Network
Published on: 01 April 2023 at 09:45 IST
The Supreme Court of India has directed the Union of India’s Ministry of Cooperation to transfer Rs. 5,000 Crores out of the unutilized amount of Rs. 23,937 Crores from the “Sahara-SEBI Refund Account” to disburse legitimate dues of depositors of Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies.
The order was passed in response to an application filed by the Union of India seeking appropriate directions to transfer the amount. The Solicitor General appearing on behalf of the Union of India had submitted that a total of Rs. 24,979.67 Crores was lying unutilized with the SEBI in the “Sahara-SEBI Refund Account.”
The Court noted that Rs. 2253 Crores had been taken out of the Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Ltd. and deposited with SEBI on account of the dispute of Sahara Real Estate Limited. It was further noted that the amount lying in the “Sahara-SEBI Refund Account” was unutilized, and the genuine depositors of Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies were entitled to get back their money.
The Court ordered that the disbursement of the amount shall be supervised and monitored by Justice R. Subhash Reddy, Former Judge of the Court, with the assistance of Shri Gaurav Agarwal, learned Advocate, who is appointed as Amicus Curiae to assist in disbursing the amount to the genuine depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies.
The disbursement shall be made in the most transparent manner and deposited in the respective bank accounts of the genuine depositors directly, on proper identification and submitting proof of their deposits and claims.