Sahara chief Subrata Roy on Tuesday was at the receiving end yet again in the Supreme Court which took serious exception to the company liquidating its “security” assets and diverting part of the proceeds to its own account instead of depositing with SEBI.
Taking umbrage at being kept in the dark till Reserve Bank of India informed the court of the matter, the Bench headed by Justice TS Thakur ordered RBI to proceed against the company under relevant provisions and report to the court on the action taken.
“We vacated our order to enable you to sell properties and pay towards the refund amount. We never allowed you to pay your debts. You couldn’t do that under our orders,” said the Bench, also comprising Justices AR Dave and AK Sikri.
RBI senior counsel Parag Tripathi indicated that over Rs484 crore stood transferred into an account held by Sahara India. The Bench told Tripathi not to be “handicapped” by the pending proceedings before it and to proceed under relevant laws governing such wrongs as expeditiously as possible. Tripathi indicated that after hearing Sahara’s defence, RBI will take a decision within three weeks and report to the court by the next date of hearing on March 13.
Tripathi made a further sensational claim contained in a report prepared by Sahara’s auditors. He said that the company’s audited reports showed that a sum of Rs1,089 crore under its controversial debenture scheme had matured as on date but had returned to company coffers as depositors were “untraceable”.
Tripathi indicated that under Company Act, in the event depositors are untraceable, the company has a duty to return the money to Government. For Roy, senior advocate N Ganesh firstly denied the veracity of its auditor's report. He then suggested that the sum of Rs484 crore diverted into the Sahara India account was not for payment of loan but for repayment to depositors. He stated that the money was further disbursed to its branch offices and substantial amount had even been repaid to depositors.
Not willing to buy the statement, court asked Sahara to file a detailed affidavit on how the money was diverted instead of being deposited with Sahara-SEBI Refund Account. It further sought details of investors who were repaid, mode of repayment (cash or cheque) and whether identity of claimant was established. All these details will be put into a CD format and presented to Court, RBI, SEBI and amicus curiae Shekhar Naphade.
Its been almost a year that Roy is in Tihar Jail. Having failed to generate Rs10,000 crore till date to secure bail, the Bench told Roy, “You are viewing business above your personal liberty… Why don’t you transfer your property in Amby Valley and win your liberty.” Roy requested court to consider his plea to be shifted to jail guesthouse but court refused to grant it in absence of any concrete proposal for sale of his overseas properties.