Sahara gets 2 months time to refund Rs.24,000 cr to investors

The order directed the Sahara Group to make immediate payment of Rs.5,120 crore and the balance in two instalments. The first instalment Rs 10,000 crore has to be made by the first week of January and the remaining by the first week of February.

The bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir also directed the Group to supply the documents relating to investors within 15 days and warned that failure to fulfil its directive on payment of the money to SEBI will lead to attachment of assets.

The virtual modification of the directives of another bench of the apex court by the Chief Justice evoked strong protest from SEBI which objected to the alteration of the August 31 verdict directing the Group to make the refund by November end or face attachment proceedings.

Interestingly, the apex court passed the order when a review plea of Sahara of the August 31 verdict and a contempt petition against it by SEBI are pending before a bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and J S Khehar who had passed the earlier order against the companies.

SEBI's counsel Arvind Dattar strongly opposed the order dictated by Justice Kabir along with justices S S Nijjar and J Chelameswar and said that it was not right to modify the earlier verdict given by a different bench.

He submitted that Sahara's plea must be heard by a bench of justices Radhakrishnan and Khehar which had passed the verdict against the Group's two companies---Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd (SHICL).

At one stage, the Chief Justice ticked off Dattar for insisting that the court must must record his statement in its order that the case must be heard by justices Radhakrishnan and Khehar.

"We will record what we feel to record. We cannot record what you say," the Chief Justice shot back. MORE