Sebi has refunded Rs 42 cr to Sahara bond-holders

In the high-profile Sahara case, Sebi has disclosed having refunded over Rs 42 crore to the bondholders of the two Sahara firms while discrepancies were found in nearly 3,000 refund applications.

According to the latest status update on the refund process, published today, Sebi received 10,456 applications and made refunds with respect to 7,296 applications for an aggregate amount of Rs 42,42,36,472 including interest of Rs 18,04,58,872, as on June 3, 2015.

“About 1,527 applications were referred to applicants for removal of discrepancies and the remaining (approximately 3,000 cases) fall in the disputed category, which need to be looked into and decided upon individually by the Competent Authority," Sebi said in its latest annual report released on Friday.

The total amount claimed by the 10,456 bondholders stood at over Rs 50 crore, while the disputed cases involve refund claims to the tune of about Rs 7.65 crore.

The total refund stood at Rs 1.25 crore as on March 31, 2014, including interest of Rs 43.83 lakh, relating to 445 applications.

Giving further details about the case, Sebi said it began the refund process pursuant to the orders of the Supreme Court to "to make refunds to those genuine investors who lodged their claims with Sebi".

The refunds are being made from the amount deposited by Saharas with the regulator as per the Supreme Court orders. The total amount deposited by Saharas as on March 31, 2015 stood at Rs 8,790.08 crore, Sebi said.

Sebi had initiated the refund process on May 28, 2012, while two series of advertisements were released in August 2014 and December 2014 and a format of application for refund was put on the regulator's website.

Sebi has constituted a special enforcement cell to specifically handle work relating to the verification process of documents submitted in terms of the directions of the Supreme Court and also to handle matters connected therewith.

The regulator said it is implementing the order of Supreme Court dated August 31, 2012, which upheld Sebi directions to Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd (SHICL) to refund the money collected by them through issuance of certain bonds with 15 per cent interest from the date of receipt of money till the date of payment.

"Sebi has been acting in accordance with the directions contained in the said order of the Supreme Court and its actions are overseen by Justice B N Agrawal. Sebi has filed 11 status reports before the Supreme Court in this respect which have also been furnished to Sahara," it added.

Sahara group chief Subrata Roy and two other senior officials of the group have been lodged in Tihar Jail for about 20 months now, although the group claims to have directly refunded 95 per cent of the amount due to the investors.