Sahara gets time till February to repay investors
The apex court asked Sahara to pay the rest in two instalments — R10,000 crore in the first week of January and the balance in the first week of February. If the company fails to make the first instalment, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) will be free to take steps including freezing bank accounts and attaching properties to recover the money. The court also ordered Sahara to submit detailed documents to Sebi if it had already refunded any money collected through its optionally fully convertible debentures.
In doing so, the bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir modified the court’s August 31 order giving Sahara three months ending November to make the full refund. The court said it had taken a slightly liberal view keeping in mind the interests of the investors and not the company. The bench also observed that it appears the group was not in a position to pay the entire amount as directed on August 31.
However, Sebi and an association of investors who had put money in the schemes raised strong objections, saying the directions were given without hearing their submissions. Sebi senior counsel Arvind Dattar kept insisting that the matter be heard by the original bench, but justice
