10 cr investors of 4 Sahara group's cooperative societies to get back money

The government on Wednesday said money will be returned to 10 crore investors of 4 cooperative societies of Sahara group within 9 months following a Supreme Court order directing transfer of Rs 5,000 crore from Sahara-SEBI refund account to the Central Registrar.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court allowed a plea by the Centre seeking allocation of Rs 5,000 crore, out of Rs 24,000 crore deposited by the Sahara group with market regulator Sebi, to repay depositors of the cooperative societies.

The direction came 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.

A bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar said the amount shall be disbursed to depositors duped by the Sahara group of cooperative societies.

The entire process will be monitored by former apex court judge Justice R Subhash Reddy, the bench said.

In a statement, the Ministry of Cooperation said the Supreme Court, while giving a historic decision, ordered to return the deposits of about 10 crore investors of 4 cooperative societies of Sahara group from the Sahara-SEBI refund account.

Justice Reddy, with the assistance of Gaurav Agarwal, will complete the payment process in 9 months, the ministry said.

This payment will be made through a transparent process to the valid investors of Sahara Societies through their bank accounts on providing proof of their proper identity and deposit.

The Centre had sought money from the Sahara-SEBI escrow account that was formed after the top court in August 2012 directed two Sahara firms -- Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Limited (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing India Corporation Limited (SHICL) -- to refund investors.