Sahara unsettled funds: The recent passing of Sahara Group chairman, Subrata Roy, has reignited discussions about undistributed funds amounting to over Rs 25,000 crore currently held by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the countrys capital markets regulator.The demise of Subrata Roy has brought attention back to the regulatory and legal battles involving Sahara Group and its chief. The group was accused of employing Ponzi schemes to evade regulations, a charge consistently denied by the group. The undistributed funds in question have been a focal point of these controversies.Sebis Directive and Legal ProceedingsIn 2011, SEBI directed Sahara Group entities, Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd (SIREL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd (SHICL), to refund funds raised through Optionally Fully Convertible Bonds (OFCDs) from around 3 crore investors. SEBI deemed the fund-raising to be in violation of its rules and regulations.After a protracted legal battle, the Supreme Court, on August 31, 2012, upheld SEBIs directive for the two firms to refund the collected money with a 15 per cent interest. Sahara was required to deposit an estimated Rs 24,000 crore with SEBI for further investor refunds.Current Status of RefundsAccording to SEBIs latest annual report, the regulator has issued refunds totalling Rs 138.07 crore over 11 years to investors of the two Sahara Group firms. However, the funds deposited in dedicated bank accounts for repayment have exceeded Rs 25,000 crore.Sebis Annual Report DetailsAs of March 31, 2023, SEBI received 19,650 applications involving 53,687 accounts. Refunds were processed for 17,526 applications, amounting to Rs 138.07 crore, including an interest amount of Rs 67.98 crore. The remaining applications were closed as their records were untraceable.Under Supreme Court orders and SEBIs attachment orders, an aggregate amount of Rs 15,646.68 crore has been recovered as of March 31, 2023. This, along with accrued interest, was deposited in nationalised banks, totalling around Rs 25,163 crore.Governments Refund InitiativeIn August, the government initiated the refund process for Rs 5,000 crore for depositors stuck in four cooperative societies of the Sahara Group. Union Minister Amit Shah launched the CRCS-Sahara Refund Portal in July, aiming to return funds to 10 crore investors within 9 months, following a Supreme Court order.ConclusionThe unsettled funds issue remains a complex financial matter, intertwined with legal and regulatory complexities, that continues to unfold in the aftermath of Subrata Roys demise.
