SEBI asks SC to appoint receiver for Sahara Property auction

New Delhi: The dispute between the Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Sahara India group has got a new twist with the former urging the Supreme Court to appoint a receiver for auctioning the properties of the group for recovery of dues.

The apex court told the petitioner on Friday that it will consider application for the purpose on the next date of hearing in February. The market regulator has been fighting legal battle with the company since long on the issue of refund of money to investors who total three thousand crores, according to SEBI sources.

The regulator has already listed 60 properties for e-auction out of which 13 land parcels have been auctioned and five more are scheduled to be auctioned next month. The job has been entrusted to market arms of two banks, the State Bank of India and the HDFC bank.

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Another part of disagreement between the two is the disputed claim of the regulator that over 40 such properties have been already attached by the Income Tax department.

The market regulator has claimed that the group has to refund Rs 24,000 crores to investors as principal amount. The sum will go up considerably if the interest payable to them is taken into account. The Sahara group has disputed the figures.

It has , however, given a repayment road-map to the top court which has been forwarded by it to the SEBI and the amicus curiae, appointed by the court, for response. As per the map the group will deposit a total of Rs 24,000 crores in Sebi-Sahara account in two years.

The sources said the group has so far made deposits to the tune of Rs 12,000 crores.

Head of the group Subrata Roy who has been in jail for about two years in connection with the case filed by the SEBI is out on parole which was granted following the death of his mother. He has to deposit Rs 600 crores by the first week of February next, failing which he may be sent back to prison. The remaining repayment sum may be deposited as per the schedule given in the road-map , if the court agrees.

The case is being heard by a three-judge bench headed by chief justice Justice T S Thakur. The dispute dates back to 2012. It has been dragging on since then. The investment was made in two group companies, Sahara Housing and Sahara Estate in debentures which had made one-time payment promise. It was allegedly not fulfilled.

The issue was later taken up by the market regulator in the Supreme Court which got annoyed with the group head for non-appearance on one pretext or the other. Later, it sent him to jail which was his home for about two years.

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