Sahara challenges Sebi to television debate

Accuses regulator of injustice, bad intent

A signed full-page advertisement in the newspapers on Sunday invited the Securities and Exchange Board of India to a live debate on television.

“I hereby challenge and invite the Chairman or/and Members or/and Executive Directors of Sebi for a live debate with me on a TV channel and let people know  their wrong intent and deed, as a corporate regulator and clearly understand what extreme degree of injustice is being done by them to malign the image of Sahara India Pariwar,” said the advertisement entitled ‘Enough is Enough.’

It futher asks for a ten day notice to organise the appropriate channel and 60 minutes of air-time to facilitate the debate.

Subrata Roy Sahara would represent his group in the discussion, ‘to expose the truth,’ claimed the advert.

The advertisement also noted that he had written thrice to the chairman of Sebi seeking an appointment, but without any luck.

BN Agarwal, a former judge of the Supreme Court who is overseeing the refund, also refused to meet with Sahara group officials, said the advertisement.

The advertisement further accused Sebi of malafide acts and of acting under the diktats of ‘powerful third parties.’

Sebi had moved the Supreme court on Friday asking for the detention of of Subrata Roy Sahara, chairman of the Sahara Group, and directors Ravi Shankar Dubey and Ashok Roy Choudhary.

The regulator had also asked that the passports of the three as well as another director Vandana Bhargava, be deposited with the court and they not be allowed to leave the country without permission.

An earlier Sebi order on February 13 had ordered attachment of assets of two group companies — Sahara Housing Investment Corporation (SHICL) and Sahara India Real Estate Corporation (SIRECL) —as well as the four persons mentioned above.

The apex court had asked the Sahara group to refund around Rs 24,000 crore with interest to its over 30-million optionally fully convertible debentures investors, concurring with the Sebi view that there were irregularities in the way the money was raised.

Sahara was to deposit the money with Sebi to facilitate a refund, but the group deposited only Rs 5,120 crore and claimed that investors had already redeemed the rest.

Sebi noted that the group had not provided sufficient documentation to establish that such a refund had actually taken place.