NEW DELHI: Amidst mounting concerns, millions of disgruntled investors within the Sahara India Pariwar remain in anticipation of the reimbursement of their hard-earned investments in the conglomerate's diverse enterprises.
The recent passing of Sahara Group Chairman Subrata Roy has cast a shadow over the prospects of a smooth path for these investors seeking restitution.
Earlier this year, India's top court had directed SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), the market regulator, to arrange to refund funds to depositors whose funds are stuck in Sahara Group's cooperative societies. The government also launched the Sahara Refund Portal for depositors to file claims.
A Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies (CRCS) Sahara Refund Portal has been created for the submission of claims by genuine depositors of Cooperative Societies of Sahara Group.
However, several investors have expressed concerns about the system's reliability, noting that upon submitting their claims, the portal indicates "deficiencies" in their applications.
"When we logged in and registered our complaint, it said the claim application had a deficiency. What can we do now? We cannot run from pillar to post to get our money back. We are harassed," said Deewakar, an investor in Sahara, while speaking to TNIE.
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Rakesh Kumar Singh, another investor, said that he had to run from pillar to post to get back the money he had invested in Sahara Group. "I am a small investor in Sahara Group. I have invested Rs. 50,000, but I still have to get my money back. I don't know what to do," Singh told TNIE.
An investor from Bhubaneswar, Bipin Chandra, questioned, "When can I and we get our money back? .. The system really seemed to be not working properly."
The Apex Court is expected to hear the matter in January next year.
In 2011, after a detailed investigation, SEBI had found that the Sahara's firms, Sahara India Real Estate Corporation (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation (SHICL), had allegedly received money from many investors in violation of norms through optionally fully convertible bonds. The market regulator had asked Sahara to refund money to these investors.
Furthermore, the top court upheld SEBI's decision and ordered the setting up of an enforcement cell to handle claims from investors. On the contrary, Sahara has maintained that it has paid almost all the money to its investors, to which SEBI objected.
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