SC dismisses Sahara appeal for more time to refund investors
After senior counsel Ram Jethmalani insisted on giving him two minutes to make his submissions, justice Kabir further observed that “it’s an unfortunate application and should have been dismissed with costs”.
The chief justice’s bench in December had asked Sahara to pay R5,120 crore upfront and the balance in two instalments — R10,000 crore in the first week of January and the rest in the first week of February.
However, Sahara had told the court that it has already paid R5,120 crore, although it was to pay only R2,620 crore, claiming it made an extra payment of R2,500 crore “to provide buffer, if there are any miscalculations”.
Another bench headed by justice KS Radhakrishnan on February 6 issued contempt notice to the two group companies of Sahara and group founder Subrata Roy and three directors — Ashok Roy Choudhary, Ravi Shankar Dubey and Vandana Bhargava — for non-compliance with its directions to refund R24,000 crore raised from investors through optionally fully convertible debentures (OFCDs) by November 30 last year.
It had also pulled up Sebi for failing to take action against the companies – Sahara India Real Estate Corporation (now known as Sahara Commodity Services Corporation Ltd) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation – as per its August 31, 2012 directions that ordered attachment of properties and freezing of bank accounts of the companies in case of any default.
After the February 6 order,
